Just Watch
by Lov3lyL3xi
Summary: Max and Fang have been neighbors since ever, but never really talked to each other. Every night, he'd hear the horrifying disturbances going on in her home, waking him up. One day, he decides to ring her door bell. This just might have saved her life.
1. The Girl

**Hello people who read this! This is actually my 3****rd**** MR fanfic, but I deleted my first one, "Stir It Up" because I wasn't happy with the results and where it was headed. But if you liked, "Stir It Up" well, I think you'll love my second story, "Neverending Things" It's basically about a crazy psychopathic man who has haunted Fang for quite some time now and then of course Max and Fang meet because she gets assaulted by the crazy man and Fang saves her…and yada yada yada. It holds lots of twisted secrets and lies though :] I personally don't think it sounds cliché at all, you should go ready Neverending Things if you like psychological, scary romance, horror, scarred for life type of stories ^^ Okay here's my newest MR fanfic…**_**Just Watch.**_

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**Just Watch**

**Chapter 1:**

The Girl

"Don't fucken touch me!" The girl, Max,17, yells at her father, looking up at him, eyes flash with pure anger and disgust; she is half lying on the floor and he, starring down at her, his eyes practically bawl out at her, looking at her with disappointment.

"Shut up you rude little bitch!" He grabs her long brown wavy chocolate hair and drags her across the hallway and into a room; She screams out, making him pull even harder. He glides the door open with one hand and throws her on the bathroom floor. "Go take a shower, you smell like filth!"

He yells at her. Max glares at him, "It's only because I couldn't use the fucken shower for two fucken whole weeks because you fucken forgot to pay the fucken water bill! You fucken bas-" She gives out a sudden gasp and cups her cheeks; turning her face to his; eyeing him with tears and puffiness in them.

"You're animal, you should be in shackles!" He shouts, starring at her murderously. He shuts the door very hard causing her to jump out of place a little; startling her.

As soon as he leaves, she breaks out into tears of agony. Max buries her face into her palms and stays there, sitting on the bathroom floor, on top of a washed out green rug meant to wipe your feet on once you get out of the shower to not dirty the floor and make it wet.

"Aghhh!" She screams, hitting the white tiles with her clenched fist. She continues sobbing a bucketful of tears and her shoulders shake quite violently as she lets out all her emotions on those tears.

...

He stands there, beside his bedroom window; just hiding behind the wall. He listens. Muffles which sound like _'don't touch me!'_ or _'the fucken water bill!'_

He hears her screams...of pain. But all he can do is…_stand by and watch._ Enjoy the show…right?

That's all he can ever do...

All he can ever do...

_Is watch..._

_Just Watch._

Not being able to concentrate on his studies or homework, Fang sighs most perturbed, setting his pen down on his black sleek desk. He shuts his Global Studies text book closed and rubs his forehead. Standing up, he stares out his window.

And that's what he does...

This is what Fang does...exactly everyday...of every hour...always...and...forever...

He, the boy who has been neighbors with Max since forever, has to standby and watch the whole dramatic scenario occurring and reoccurring every single day.

_Every. Single. Damned. Day._

There's not a day that passes by when he can have peace and quiet, beautiful silence and just be able to concentrate on his studies...not _ever._

Because every _morning_, every _afternoon_, every _night_...the same things happens...Max's screams, her father's yells, the sound of glass falling to the floor and shattering, breaking into millions of tiny pieces.

Oh, the horrifying terror in her screeching voice as her father does heaven knows what to her.

And that's how he assumes...she gets the small scratches on her legs. Fang's definitely not stupid; he knows Max doesn't get those 'scratches' from shaving her legs too roughly; unless she was to do it purposely. But, oh, he knows alright...he _knows._

He knows that everyday, a new scratch is welcomed to her collection of cuts and scars on her legs, ankles, every day. He is in her art class. And his seat is assigned in the seat behind the one that is right next to her. Like this, he has a clear perfect view of her scars and cuts.

He's of course, never befriended her about _it_ though. To tell you the truth, he's actually never even befriended her before…ever!

_"Stop it! Don't do that, don't do-aghhh! Daddy please, s-stop!"_ He hears her distant cries for help all the way from her kitchen to his own bedroom. He sighs out and closes his window shut; then the black drapes over it. He walks over to his sleek desk and opens a drawer; pulling out his black iPod and then hopping back onto his bed.

He places both ear buds into his ears and starts his playlist.

_SKSK - Drowning You in Fear_ starts to play.

Fang closes his eyes; relaxing to the song; shifting his body a little so he'll be more comfortable since he expects to wake up the next morning and not in like 5 minutes from now.

_How long will you let this go on?_

_They're drowning you in fear_

_Speak up!_

_Your voice just isn't breaking through_

_It's time now!_

_It's gone on way too long_

_if we let them_

_They will tear you into little pieces_

_I think there is something wrong_

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Fang gives a final exhausted sigh before pulling the slim black cords of his ear buds off and now sits up, hunching his back over as his chin rests on his hands. He sighs, giving out one big exaggerated breath.

He puts his iPod away into the drawer. He can't listen to music right now. That song reminded him way too much of Max. Although it seems kind of creepy for it to remind him of Max since they're like practically _strangers_ to each other; never speaking to each other or taking interest in the other, but Fang can't just ignore the damn fact

that his neighbor, Max, gets both physically and mentally abused by her own father ever single damn day!

He plops himself on the bed again, his thoughts exhausting him even more.

He grabs his phone from his pocket of his black jeans and dials 911...

As he's about to hit the green call button, an impulse hits him...

_What would I say to them? Would they question me? More importantly, will they question her dad? Will they take him into prison? Into court? Will they take Max to court? What'll happen to Max if her father is taken into prison? Will Max be moved into a foster home? Will she have to be adopted? _

_What happens years later when the dad gets out of jail; will he come looking for Max? Better yet, whoever starts this whole thing...the idea to tell the public...the authorities...me? Will he want to murder me? Harm my family? _

The thought of all those unanswered questions make him groan out in pure despair. He drops his phone and decides to not call...

...

_Next morning_

Fang waits both anxiously and impatiently as he watches the dad get ready to go to work. Fang gives out a rushed gasp for breath as he turns around immediately and hides behind the wall; before the dad could catch him spying.

Fang peaks out from his window again; the man fixes his wrinkled polo shirt and mouths _'fuck'_. He heads over to the coffee maker and pours some onto his mug. Fang watches closely, glancing back at his digital clock sitting on his night stand.

The man takes a sip of the coffee and then in an instant spits it out to the sink, grimacing in a disgusted manner. Fang's eyes widen. The man shouts Max's name, seeming hugely pissed off. Seconds later, she comes running down the stairs, fear in her eyes. Fang looks taken aback, feeling nervous all of a sudden as he catches her in a very small pale purple skin-tight tank top stopping up her bellybutton. She's not wearing a bra and with the very pale and light weight fabric you can see her nipples peak out through the very light color. Her shorts are, well…_short._ They start down to the very bottom of her curvaceous hips. They're white and stop at least a foot up her knees; showing off those great thighs Fang's never noticed before; unfortunately for her, also showing off those hidden scars on her upper thighs that Fang's also never noticed before. He's just seen the ones on her ankles and calves. Her father approaches her most angrily. Fang winces a bit as he catches the sight of him slapping her. And she, not expecting it, falls down onto the floor, cupping her cheek, while her other hand still holds onto the stair's railing. Tears start to fall. He points to the coffee maker and pours the coffee on Max while she's not expecting it, too caught up in the buzzing pain on her cheek.

But she screams out as the hot coffee makes contact with her skin, falling onto her hair, digging through her scalp, onto her shoulders and sinking down to her chest, underneath her tank top. Fang clutches his teeth and his fists clench in a fit of rage.

"_Mother fucker_" Fang grounds out silently, watching the whole scenario; feeling like punching the man till his skin peels off his face and falls to the floor so Fang can go and stomp on it.

Fang stops watching and has a sudden thought. He runs to his desk drawer and pulls out an HD camcorder; one he doesn't use much too often; he's not quite the vlogger as you can see.

He turns it on and tapes everything, hoping the father will hit Max again. He knows that sounds _very_ selfish but he just wants to record it so badly on tape so he can show everyone...anyone who can help get Max out of this mess.

A sudden icon flashes onto the LCD screen of the camcorder. Fang glances down at it.

LOW BATTERY!

It states and shuts off. "Crap" He mutters. I guess he never really charged it before. He throws it onto his bed, it bounces a little until it stops and stays there, making a small dent in his comforters.

Fang then hears the familiar sounds of tires screeching against pavement; this gets his attention and he watches the dad pull out of the driveway with his red pickup truck very rapidly and drives off.

After watching the man do so, Fang immediately jogs downstairs and runs out to the front door, not even noticing if his parents are up and out of bed or if they've already drove off to work.

Fang squints as the bright rays of the sun blind him for a second. He jogs across his lawn, the bottom legs of his jeans getting sparsely wet due to the sprinklers that went off early in the morning; which the grass hasn't gotten a chance to dry off yet. He jogs to Max's house, being a bit cautious as her dad can pull up any minute, maybe forgetting something.

He presses her doorbell.

_ding dong...ding dong...ding dong..._

And waits.

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**To those of you currently reading my story, "Neverending Things" don't worry! I'll have a new chapter up as soon as possible! In fact, I'm working on it right now; I already have the outline and brainstormed for what's going to happen next! **

**Anyways, please tell me what you think of this story, Just Watch. Any feedback at all? Just no flames. If I get at least 5 reviews, then I'll update this one too! If I don't, well then that mean you guys clearly think this new story is poop, so I'll know whether to continue it or not! :)**

**P.S. Sorry for the lots of swear words there, heh :)**


	2. The Boy

Thank you for the reviews! Hope you like this chapter as well :)

**Just Watch**

**Chapter 2:**

The Boy

There he is, waiting for the door to open.

_ding dong, ding dong, ding, ding dong..._

This time he presses the button a little faster now

From the inside of the house, he hears an exasperated sigh, "Agh, what...who the hell is it?" He hears her shout all the way from her living room.

The door knob turns and Fang puts his hands in both pockets, gulping; already nervous to actually meet her this time.

The door swings open and he is taken aback by her unwelcomed glare as she stares at him, raising an eyebrow. He just stares back at her, but not glaring angrily like she is.

"Hi" He mutters to her, looking her in the eyes. Max gives out a deep sigh before peaking her head out of the door and seeing if whether or not her father is driving back. She leans against the door frame, crossing her arms.

Fang says nothing at this, just taking in her appearance in mere silence as both just stare at each other. Fang's gaze falls down to her legs, to her ankles and he sees the cuts and scars on them better. Then he remembers something,

his eyes travel up her thighs and he sees the hidden scratches that he's never seen before until today when he was kind of spying on both her and her father.

"Ahem!" Max clears her throat, knowing what he's doing and feeling self conscious about it.

Fang looks up, "s-sorry" He says, looking away. He hopes he didn't come off as a pervert to her. Max sighs yet once more and looks around everywhere, seeming to look bored. "Well?-" She asks, grabbing his attention. He looks at her again. "Whatdya want?" She shouts in his face.

Fang takes a quick inhale and a deep and slow exhale, "I'm Fang." He states, their eyes meeting yet again. She scoffs, "Okay. And um...why should I care?" She retorts, with wide obnoxious eyes at him.

His eyebrows furrow slightly. He didn't know she could be so..._rude._

"Um...do you have a minute?" He asks her. Max rolls her eyes, "Look buddy-" She says, looking behind him, making sure her father doesn't pull off. Fang notices and feels somewhat uncomfortable.

"-you've already just like wasted five whole minutes of my life...five whole minutes that I'll never get back! So uh, why don't you just scram already!" She says, taking a step back and grabs her door, about to shut it, when suddenly Fang interrupts and grabs it.

"Wait-" He says in a tone that catches her attention. She keeps her mouth shut and listens. "What?" She says, most annoyed at his demeanor.

"I think you should know..." He trails off, and she raises both eyebrows in confusion and curiously.

"-that...I-I..well- I know-" Max rolls her eyes, "Just spit it out already! Geez!" She exclaims. Fang nods, "I know what's going on" He says in a serious and clear tone to her. He notices her eyes widen the least bit but she tries to hide it, grabbing the door again, "I-I dunno what you're talking about, so if you could just g-"

"He abuses you" He says, behind his clenched teeth. Once again, her eyes are wider than usual. She subconsciously rubs her arms a bit, feeling all nervous all of a sudden.

"What are you spying? _Freak!"_ She shouts in his face. "No. Look I jus wanna he-"

The door slams on his face; if he would've been about an inch closer to it he's pretty sure he'd have a broken nose by now, not to mention bloody.

Fang sighs out and turns around, he walks a couple steps off her porch and decides to stay and he sits on the small steps leading up to her door.

...

On the other side of the door, Max keeps her back plastered against the wall. Her back gently and slowly slides off till she sits down on the ground. She covers her face with her palms and cries out.

She feels like she's just been violated. Having someone else been spying and seeing what goes on in her home is no different, she _thinks_, than having some complete stranger stare at her naked body.

Max gently slides herself to the wooden floor and shuts her eyes closed.

_Thump!_

"Hhh!" She gasps out all of a sudden as something loud and hard hits the floor. She sits up and realizes it was just the newspaper coming through the mail slot in her door.

She crawls to the door and opens the little door slot; she gasps very subtly as she sees Fang there, his back is facing her.

Fang rubs his temples and groans out before sitting up. _"Just wanted to help"_ He mutters to himself but hoping she hears him before stepping off the small steps and making his way back to his house; jogging nonchalantly back to his own lawn. He stops and opens his mailbox, checking for new mail; as the mail man reminded him while he stopped by and dropped off newspaper and other mail in Max's door.

Max gasps and now moves from the door slot to her window in the living room, she opens the curtains very slightly and gasps out, as he enters the house next to her. "He's my _neighbor_?" She asks herself, in total surprisement.

Sure, they've been neighbors since forever but she never knew he was her…_next door neighbor._ She's seen him a couple times pass by with the loud screeching sound of his tires against the old, worn out pavement. She just thought he lived somewhere in the neighborhood, maybe a couple blocks away but not right next to her house!

Has Max really been that ignorant all these years?

For sure, Fang knew that Max has been his next door neighborhood all these years...her and some other random old creepy seventy year old man in the house to the other side of him that is...

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"Hey sweetie, when'd you get up?" Fang mom asks him as she stirs her coffee with a spoon.

"About an hour ago" He shrugs, joining her on the breakfast table. She walks up to him and kisses his forehead, "Sleep well?" She asks, rubbing his back and handing him a glass of orange juice.

Fang rolls his eyes, "Mom, I'm not a little kid anymore" He mutters. His mom chuckles, "Well, to me you are...what do you want to eat?" She asks, taking a sip of her coffee. This reminds Fang of that abusive scenario he saw when Max's dad got pissed at her because supposedly she didn't make the coffee correctly so he hit her _and _poured hot coffee down on her.

Fang 's jaw tightens and he finds himself squeezing his glass of orange juice even tighter. His mom notices and looks at him bewildered, "Fang? Honey are y- ohh!" She blurts out suddenly and puts a hand up to her heart, feeling it beat faster, as the glass explodes in Fang's hand, making the orange juice spill everywhere, on the table and running to the edges of the table; dripping onto the floor.

"Fang!" His mom yells and he looks up at her. "Oh, you're bleeding!" She says concerned and worried, heading over to the sink and grabbing a table cloth then wetting it.

"I'll go get the peroxide, don't you worry sweetie" She says and leaves the room, going into the living room bathroom.

"Shit" He mutters.

"Here...are you okay?" She asks with worry and a confused expression on her face. Fang looks at her, "Yeah, no I'm fine…just-I guess I got up too early" He says.

His mom nods, "You go upstairs to your room, I'll clean this up" She says to him and he nods, getting off the chair.

"Oh no!" She exclaims. "What?" He asks, turning to face her.

"That glass was part of that expensive China collection you're father bought back when he visited Beijing...oh, he's gonna kill us if he finds out it's broken."

Fang feels guilt all of a sudden, "Mom I-"

"No sweetie, you go upstairs, I'll handle the rest" She says, bending down and sweeping up the broken glass pieces with the broom.

Fang's brows furrow, "W-why do you say it like that?" He asks her. She turns around and stops sweeping, "Say what?" She asks, confused. "That he'll kill us if he finds out"' He says sternly. His mother chuckle s abit, "Sweetie, it's just an expressi-"

"No, it's not. There's people out there who get abused every day and if they're in the same room as you they'll hear that _'expression'_ and will get offended. It's like you're making fun of them" Fang says to her, taking a breathe in as that was a long sentence for him to say.

His mom drops the broom and her mouth drops open. She walks up to him and instantly wraps her arms around his head, making him bewildered. "Oh, sweetie! Why didn't you tell me before? You get bullied at school, oh Fang swee-"

"What? Mom, no! I don't. I was just implying that it's best not to say things like that" He says.

His mom exhales, "Are you sure? Is everything alright?" She asks, worry in her eyes. "Mom! I'm fine." He reassures her.

She sighs, "Okay Fang" and pats his back as he walks out the breakfast room and makes his way upstairs.

He opens the door and goes to his bathroom, taking a large bandage out to put over his fresh cut from the glass.

He shuts the bathroom door and heads to his bed, plopping himself on it.

So she thinks I'm an…

a) pervert,

b) a jerk with an attitude and

c) a stranger who spies on her

Great! _Tuh-rific!_

Way to make her feel _'befriended' _Fang.

He tells himself, groaning into his pillow.

_ding!_

He looks up, from his pillow.

_ding!_

Fang gets off his bed and fixes his now wrinkled shirt and heads over to his laptop.

New IM from Iggy

He opens the browser and reads.

_Hey man, what u up to? :DDDDDDD_

Fang chuckles at the overly used smiley faces Iggy's always using in his IM's and texts.

Fang replies

nm

_cool, wanna hang? we could do sumthing_

sure.

_GREAT! soooo...who goes where? lol do I come over there?_

yeah.

_:/ DUUUUDE! U R SOOOO BORING WHEN IT COMES TO IMing! lol_

why?

_U FREAKIN GIVE ONE WORD REPONSES! I FEEL LIKE I'M TAKING TO A GHOST, URE SO CREEPY XDDDD_

And you use one too many smilies.

_UGH! whatever xD I'm coming over. See ya._

K.

**XD-Iggy-XD** has now signed off.

Fang rubs his eyes and waits patiently for the sound of Iggy's maniacally driving to be heard on his driveway.

He decides to log on face book to kill some time.

His fills in his email and password, quickly logging in.

1 NEW MESSAGE!

He blinks, clicking on it.

**From:** Lissa Barcaddi

He sighs and clicks on the message.

_Heeeeeey Fangy! Like, I totally didn't know u had a face book! How dare you not add me! ;)_

_anywho me and Brigid have been talking and we think u should totally come hang with us sum time x)_

_here's my number 508-584-24573 get back to me soon k? xoxo_

He clicks on 'delete' and clicks on he log off button but then something catches his attention.

**People You May Know**

Under that he spots a familiar name and a familiar face.

_Maximum Ride_

He sees her picture and clicks on it, the page loads to her face book profile.

Should I add her?

He questions himself but then decides not to. Wait a darn minute! Why would Max even have a face book? He thought she didn't have any friends or anything. Maybe it's another Max.

Yeah, Fang, another Maximum Ride with the exact same face as her. Totally.

Fang rolls himself onto his bed again, ignoring the weird conversations going on in his head.

He gets back up and clicks on logout, not adding her.

_screeeeeeeeeechhhh_

He looks out his window, ah, just in time to see Iggy stepping out of his car.

Fang runs downstairs and nearly trips on his way over there.

"Hey Ig" He says. "What up man?" Iggy says, playfully punching his arm.

Fang smiles and they both walk up to Fang's room.

"So...what've you been up to?" Iggy asks him

Fang raises an eyebrow, "School? You know." Fang replies.

Iggy chuckles, lying down on his bed, while Fang sits on his rolling chair from his desk, "I mean like besides that...whatdya do when we don't hang out?" Iggy asks Fang, playing with the cords of Fang's IPod.

"Sit here and be bored" Fang replies back dryly.

Iggy chuckles, "Man, you sooo can't live without me!" He laughs. Fang smirks and rolls his eyes.

"Where do ya wanna go?" Iggy asks him.

Fang shrugs, "park?" Fang replies. Iggy laughs out and clutches his stomach, "What?" Fang asks, now annoyed that Iggy laughs at him every chance he gets. Fang's starting to think he does get bullied, by Iggy...in a playful manner of course, but still…

"Dude. Shut up" Fang says, grabbing Iggy's leg and dragging him off his bed. "Agh! Okay, okay!" Iggy's loud laughter turns down to a soft chuckle and he calms down, "Besides the park, where do you wanna go? Hey wanna go to the beach? I think I need a tan" He says.

Fang looks over at Iggy and studies him, rubbing his chin, "Nope. You're good" He says. Iggy rolls his eyes.

"Hey man" Iggy says and Fang raises his eyebrows in questions. "Who's that hot chick I just saw on my way to your house?" Iggy asks him. Fang's brows furrow, "Who?"

Iggy shrugs, "I dunno. Some girl was like outside watering plants or something. Dude, she's like right next door to you. Didn't you know that?" Iggy asks him.

"Oh" Fang says in realization. Iggy's talking about Max. "Yeah...I know. She's Max" He says to Iggy.

"Cool name. Hey-isn't there a Max at our school?"

"Yeah there is. That's her" Fang responds.

"Nice" Iggy grins. Fang rolls his eyes, "Iggy-" He says in a warning tone.

"What? Oh come on man! I'm joking! She's cute and all, but I don't think I'd ever ask her out. Why, do you like her?" Iggy looks at Fang with curiously in his yes.

Fang sighs out, "Yes Iggy. I like her. The girl who I've literally never even talked to before after all these 13 years of being next door neighbors. The girl who is a complete stranger to me. I toooootally like her." Fang says, now rolling his eyes.

"Alright dude. I can take a hint." Iggy chuckles, "Hey, we should invite her to hang with us sometime" He says.

"Uhhhh" Fang trails off. Iggy laughs, "I knew it! You do like her! You're getting all nervous of what to respond with! Haha" Iggy chuckles at him. Fang punches Iggy in the arm. "Ow, dude!" Iggy says rubbing his arm.

"You asked for it. And I don't like her" Fang says. "-I'm just...concerned about her" He says, starring out his window and notices that Max closed the curtains, meaning he can't see what goes on in their house anymore.

"Wait, concerned why?" Iggy asks, sitting up now.

"Her...father's kind of..._brutal_" Fang says. "Fuck. What? You mean like he hits her?" Iggy asks.

Fang nods, "Yeah. That's exactly what I mean".

"Dude, you have to go to the police if you're a witness".

"Yeah…I know, I thought about that, but...ah, I dunno!" Fang says, giving up on his words.

"Well...you're sure he hits her?" Iggy asks. Fang nods, "that's messed up" Iggy adds.

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Fang tosses and turns, groaning into his pillow and trying to cover his ears by listening to music. "Ugh, shut up already!" He shouts, complaining from the non stop arguing and fighting between Max and her dad in the house beside his.

Fang turns to his side, glancing at his digital clock in his night stand.

3:23 AM

_"What is wrong with you?"_ Her distant shouting is heard from her house all the way to his bedroom.

_"Fuck you bitch, I said clean that up!"_

_"Lemme go! Don't touch me! Agh!"_

_"Come here girl!"_

_"Plea-"_ Fang hears her wails of cry, _"P-Please, don't hurt me!"_

A final loud bang is heard, causing Fang to fully wakeup as he jumps out of bed. His eyes widened and his hair is all over the place, his eyes are puffy and baggy from the lack of sleep.

Fang curses himself for having his bedroom and window be right next to the living room and kitchen of Max's house, right where most of the arguing goes on.

3:37 AM

_"Ignorant bitch!"_

Fang leaps out of bed again, the sudden loud yells waking him up from his peaceful dream he was having.

He rubs his temples and tries to go to sleep, knowing he can't do anything about the loud noise right now. He does, although, wonder if anyone else can ever hear Max and her father arguing and all the noise that's going on.

_"I told you to fucken clean that up!"_

"Ughhhh!" Fang groans out so loud, waking up his parents, who sleep safe and soundly in the comfort of having their room located all the way in the other end of the house; away from all this fighting.

"Fang? Honey are you alright?" He hears his mother's voice all the way from her bedroom.

"Yeah. Just a nightmare!" He shouts so they can hear him.

"Alright, go to sleep. You'll be fine!" She says; her voice a little muffled from being so far away.

_"Get the hell off me!"_

Fang hits his pillow in a fit of rage as soon as he hears those words.

_"Ewwwww! Stop, get off!"_

"Dammit" He says, turning over to his side.

_"Aghhhhhhhh!"_ Max's scream.

This time he does jump out of bed and goes to his window. He squints his eyes a bit and -oh _God!_

Fang immediately looks away with a hand clasped over his mouth. He breathes out very rapidly and shoves the door open, running down stairs.

"Fang?" He hears his mom call but ignores it and runs as fast as he can, opening the front door. He runs across his patio over his tall wooden fence and on Max's front yard. He bangs on the door.

Seconds later, a pissed off man opens the door.

"Who the hell are you? What the hell do you want?" He asks with a sleepy face on. _Fake._

Fang doesn't answer right away, still recovering from the rapid run he just did, sweating all over; since he didn't even stretch out his muscles from the brusque movement he just made.

Fang glares at the man and speaks, "What the he-"

"Fang!" He turns around to see both his parents rush up to him with wide eyes, concerned looks on their faces and no longer sleepiness attached to them. "What is going on?" Fang's dad shouts in disbelief, now somewhat angry that Fang practically broke his neighbor's door down.

Fang glares at Max's dad, "He was practically..._raping_ her! Max!" He shouts. Fang's parents look from Fang to Max's dad and then back to Fang. "What?" The mom says in sure disbelief.

"Look, I'm very sorry for this minor intrusion" Fang's dad steps up and assures the man. "Please, ignore our son...he just woke up from a nightmare! Heh…we'll be heading off now!" Fang's dad says nervously, knowing the man is glaring at all of them with such a look.

"Come on Fang. Mr. Ride...I'm so very sorry for this. Please disregard it." Fang's mother says.

The man keeps glaring at them and nods, shutting the door but not before giving Fang the most murderous, threatening look one can ever give. Fang's eyes widen and he gulps, now feeling kind of scared.

...

"I cannot believe you would go to such lengths!" Fang's dad lectures him. All three are now in the breakfast room. Yes, at almost 4 in the morning.

"Dad, I know what I saw!" Fang shouts back.

His mom sighs, "Fang, just...sleep"

"And why would a father ever rape his own daughter? That's sick!" His father implies. The mom nods.

"Just believe me!"

"Fang! No, enough of this. You're just tired and stressed from your exams. Please, sleep" His father says

"Fang, listen to your father." She says, rubbing his back.

"Good night son" His dad says, patting his back and putting his coffee mug into the sink; both his parents walk off to their own bedroom.

...

Next morning

_beep beep beep beep!_

Fang's alarm goes off until it suddenly stops.

Fang's eyebrows furrow. Since when do alarms turn off so quickly? He disregards it and presses his face against his pillow more, trying to block out the morning sun that's coming in from his window.

He shifts his body a bit and slowly opens up his eyelids. He blinks and turns his head a bit, seeing a shadow on his wall. A _figure._

Suddenly, he feels uneasy…as if someone's watching him.

You know that feeling you get when the air around you suddenly turns eerie and you're whole body just freezes in terror as too does your mind?

Slowly, Fang turns his head, "Whoa!" Fang blurts out in total shock.

Fang's body stays stiff, most petrified with widened eyes, his heart thumping, seeing Max's father standing there by his bed.

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**Review please :)**


	3. The Abuser

**Just Watch**

**Chapter 3:**

The Abuser

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His heart kept rising, his chest heaving; up and down, up and down.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Fang asks with shock in his voice.

The man glares at him and approaches. "Hello Fang." He says in a firm and unyielding manner. Fang says nothing, instead just stares on with sudden shock in his eyes.

"Oh good! Oh-Fang…I thought you'd be up and out of bed right now. I'm sorry Mr. Ride; for sure I thought he'd be using his computer or something. Fang…get out of bed and go wash up." She smiles at Mr. Ride and he smiles back, starring at her while she walks out of the room.

Fang notices and he glares, "Don't you dare stare at her like that again" Fang grounds out.

"Hmph" The man smiles smugly and walks out of Fang's room.

There Fang is, left with purely bewildered to the greatest depths.

…**..**

_Breakfast_

"Where's dad?" Fang asks his mom from the fridge, looking for his leftover can of soda he left about a week ago.

He shuts the door, grabbing a new can.

"Out. Work. Now I invited Mr. Ride over because I really needed some help with the grill" She says. Fang's mouth drops open, "Mom I'm here…couldn't you just have asked me?" He feels a little insulted.

"Ooh, well sweetie, you're always busy up in your room…doing heaven knows what" "Mom!" Fang looks away, blushing. He shakes his head, "Do you really hate me that much?" He asks, drinking his soda. His mom turns to him from making some lemonade, "Wha-sweetie what are you talking about?"

"Mom, you know I don't like him, and after what happened last night…are you kidding me? Is this some sort of joke?" He takes a deep breath, not liking to use many words.

His mom rolls her eyes, "Oh Fang, I just thought we left on bad terms yesterday. I wanted to fix this".

Fang rolls his eyes and groans, "Fang!" His mom whisper/shouts to him and points out the back transparent door. Fang looks back and his brows furrow.

"Go! Apologize!" She whisper/shouts to him while holding her cup of lemonade. Fang shakes his head, "Hello no! I know what I saw!" Fang shouts back but this time doesn't whisper; causing Mr. Ride to look into Fang's and his mom's directions. He grins at Fang's mom and waves and then winks at Fang.

Fang just glares back, "Ugh!" He blurts, getting thumped in the back of his head by his mom as she walks over to the back patio, giving a full glass of lemonade to Mr. Ride. She shuts the glass door so the conversation between can no longer be heard by Fang.

Fang witnesses the scene. His mom smiles and then Mr. Ride smiles. Then the mom says something and Mr. Ride grins, causing the mom to burst out laughing. Then they both laugh.

Fang clenches his fists tight.

He officially hates this man. That should his _dad_ over there. Not this…this…_agh!_

Fang runs upstairs to his room, shutting his door and grabbing his cell.

_Ring… ring… ring… ring…_

"Hi son" Fang's dad says.

"Hey dad…uh…could you come home?" Fang asks.

"Well, I'm a little busy right now at work. I have the maintenance shift right now so I'll probably be home somewhere around 11PM. Why, what's wro-"

"11 PM? That's like freakin midnight. You need to come _now_" Fang says sternly, though secretly wishing his dad listens to him as if he were a little 5 year old boy and were begging for his dad to buy him some candy.

"Well, I can't son. Why, do you need anything?"

"Yeah. Mom's needs you…to help with the grill" Fang says.

"…"

"Hahaha!" His father laughs into the phone

Fang holds the phone away from his ear, now turning slightly annoyed.

"What's so funny?"

"Well-you want me to come home because of that? I thought you guys really needed me. Son, why don't _you_ help her huh?"

"I-uh…suck at machinery, you know that"

"Hm, well I'd love to son. Bu-"

"This man is flirting with mom" Fang says.

"What?"

"He's over our house. I really don't like him. He keeps starring at her like a pervert"

"Wh-what man?"

Fang decides to lie, "I dunno….some random guy from he neighborhood"

His dad sighs into the phone, "Alright. I'll be there. Just make sure, you mother's alright"

"Sure. Bye dad. Thanks" Fang hangs up before his dad can respond.

Fang tosses his phone to the side of his bed and takes out his IPod from his drawers, turning it on.

"Ahaha…yes!" Fang hears his mother shout in ecstasy. For a minute, Fang gets the wrong idea but then shoves it off and resumes listening to his music.

"Yes, right there! Yes!" Fang turns off the volume.

"Yes! That's great! Oh, it looks soo big!" Fang nearly gags at the words his mother says. He pulls off his ear buds and looks out his window.

"Dammit" He mutters, not being able to see them.

He slams his door open, making several CD's fall off his shelf and he rushes downstairs. He stops running so rapidly after seeing a normal scenario going on between both his mom and the most hated…Mr. Ride.

"Oh, wonderful! I thought it was going to be a small little toy grill! And the spot just under the awning makes it look so decorative! Like those cute summer homes!" The mother exclaims.

They both, once again, start laughing.

Fang turns around and sits on the staircase, arching his back and exhaling.

But then he remembers something.

"Max" He mutters.

He gets up and jogs to the front door, opening it and then closing it shut. He runs out to his patio and then walks all the way over to his front fence, instead of jumping over it like a maniac this time. He opens it and heads over to Max's house.

"Ahem" Fang clears his throat, starring at the wooden door embellished with carvements.

This time he just knocks, not sounding the bell.

"Hello?" He asks, trying not to speak too loud so Mr. Ride won't hear him. He is after all, right next door to him.

He knocks once more. "He-"

He stops because the door suddenly creaks open.

Looking behind him and to the side, he takes a step in.

"Hello?" He asks.

"I'm not intruding or anything" He reassures in case Max is there.

Something glitters on the floor. He looks down at what he stepped on. _Glass._

There was definitely a struggle last night.

Then his mind goes back to what he saw just last night.

_The man was there...Max under him, struggling, trying to get him off her. He clasped a hand over her mouth and grounded his pelvis against hers, whilst both still wearing clothes of course._

But still…

Fang grimaces at the thought.

It's totally _sick!_

It's disgusting, waaaay past being perverted, sickening sick, forbidden-actually any type of rape is forbidden!

What Max's own birth parent did to her last night…that was beyond words! So what if he didn't take it all the way with her, still just the actions he instigated were enough to disgust Fang up to his throat. He swear, he would've barfed right on the scene had he not looked away from his window.

He stops walking when he reaches a staircase. He looks up, wondering where it leads to.

Looking back, he runs quickly to the front door, closing it shut in case the father comes in. He runs upstairs.

Now, we _all _are probably thinking what Fang is doing is beyond creepy but…he just wants to make sure if she's alright. It's not like he's some grown man just peaking to find her room. Now _that _my friends, is a different story.

And it's not that he likes her either. Why _would _he like her? If yesterday she came off like some rude, arrogant, smug rich girl. Except she's _not_ rich. But still…why would he like a person with such conceitedness?

He makes a turn and sees an open door and he walks to it.

Oh. Just a bathroom. Next door…a storage room?

"Hm. Not even my room's that messy" Fang chuckles softly.

Then he stops, he looks up and a sudden scent makes him automatically know this is _her _room.

Max.

He gently knocks on it.

No response.

He knocks again, a bit louder this time.

Again, no response.

He takes the door knob and twists it open.

He steps in and automatically sees…_Max._

Sleeping safe and soundly.

He nods, reassuring himself and heads out the room when suddenly-

_Click._

He knows that sound. That all too familiar sound. The sound of a door unlocking.

"Shit!" He mutters, thinking of where to hide.

Fang takes a quick scan of Max's whole room, thinking quickly of where to hide.

Great, now _I'm_ the one feeling guilty! Breaking into someone else's house, what was I thinking?

He runs up to her bed and picks up the edges of the comforters that are on the floor. He looks under her bed and huffs.

Too small and too crowded.

He runs to her closet and opens it up. He looks up and gasps as a pile of clothes falls on him, making him fall over. "Crap" He mutters, trying to shove her clothes back in as quick as he can.

Through all the ruckus going on in her room, Max wakes up most perturbed and yawns. "Mm" She groans, stretching but then noticing Fang.

Her eyes widen. "Hey y-mmphhff!" Her voice is muffled through Fang's hand as he automatically shuts her mouth, one knee on her bed. Fang hears the footsteps upstairs approaching the door.

Think Fang. _Think!_

"Uhh" He mutters, thinking quickly of where to hide.

Ah! The bathroom!

Fang takes Max with him, knowing that she'll be a big mouth and scream saying there's a stranger in her room.

"Mmmff!" She can't speak because of Fang's rough hand plastered over her mouth. He opens her bathroom door and both of them go inside, he gives Max a little push and then he locks his door. He goes inside the shower, turning it on and quickly getting out before it starts and he gets wet.

He covers Max's mouth again.

She bites his hand, "Agh!" He blurts out, glaring at her.

"What is your problem?" She whisper/shouts to him.

"Look, please don't tell your father" He says, almost pleading.

Max crosses her arms, "Tell him what?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.

"That-that I'm _here_" He says, looking guilty.

She, "Ohh, are you asking a favor of me Mr. Emo?" She holds a smug look on her face. Fang grimaces at the name she just called him, "Shut up." He grounds out, cupping a mouth over her lips and making her bend over, her back now on the counter.

Her eyes turn wide.

_Bang_

They both gasp and their eyes immediately fall onto the bathroom door. The father's entered Max's room and his footsteps leads now to this door as he gets closer, making tension rise in not just Fang's heart but also Max's.

"Max!" He yells, making her jump up a bit, "Are you in the shower?"

"…." Neither Max nor Fang reply.

"Answer me dammit! You bitch!" He says. Max winces at the word. Fang glares at the door, wanting to open it and punch the man in the face. No woman deserves to be treated like this.

Suddenly the knob turns, meaning the father's coming in.

But it doesn't work. The door is locked from the inside.

Fang sighs in relief, knowing the father can't come in.

"Did you forget I have a key to every room in this house? Little whore." He mutters.

Fang's eyes widen and the knob turns very slowly. Fang makes a split decision, sliding the shower door open and shoving Max and himself into the small enclosed space and closing the glass door, locking it as well. He wonders though, why is there a lock inside the shower?

Then he grabs the dark plastic curtains from the inside and covers the blurry transparent door.

"Max!" He yells.

Fang looks down to Max, she's shaking.

Fang looks back up, gulping.

They both continue to get wet as the millions of droplets of water hit them both continuously.

"Max!" The dad sounds overly frustrated now.

As if on instinct, Max grabs a hold of Fang's shirt and tight her grip on it very hard. Fang notices and realizes something….

_She's so scared._

Fang drops the hand he was using to shut Max's mouth and it falls to his side. Max keeps quiet though, not saying a word.

"Max! You little slut, why don't you open that door and let papa join you huh?" He chuckles, resting a palm against the door. Max gasps quietly as her father's unexpected hand slams onto the door.

"Hey! That's it! Open the fucken door you little bitch!" He screams, trying to get the door open.

Max corners herself even more in the shower and holds a face of fear in her eyes. Fang looks at her.

Max's father gives out a final huff. "Fine! I don't wanna argue." He says, walking away. "Oh. I bought you something. It's lying on your bed". The door closes shut but they can't hear him anymore from there on.

Fang sighs with relief, slumping his back down as the water continues wetting all his clothes and shoes as well.

Max's clothes are also wet, her tank top and her small shorts, making her clothes stick to her like second skin.

Fang glances casually at Max, still recovering from his almost panic attack as her father scared him half to death.

Max blushes, wrapping her arms around her chest since wet clothes = see though clothes.

Fang looks away, a little blush tinting his cheeks as well.

He gets up and stops the shower, turning it off.

His breathing goes back to normal. "Thanks for this." He mutters, not looking at her though and slides the shower door open.

Fang opens the bathroom door, now soaking wet and freezing with the cool air that passes.

He glances quickly at Max's bed, seeing the outfit her father was talking about. A sexy laced lingerie corset top with garters and fishnet pantyhose. His fists clench and he grimaces in disgust, walking off, he shakes his head in pure disgust, just knowing what Max's father will make her do for him.

…**..**

"Oh good you're home. Swee-oh, why are you all wet?" Fang's mom asks him.

He shrugs, "Sprinklers" He says.

She finds it hard to believe him because he's drenching wet but nods anyways, "Mr. Ride just went back to his house to get some equipment. He's staying for din-" "Mom" Fang cuts her off somewhat sternly and cold. His mom blinks, "What is it?" She asks in concern. "Please. Just, end this thing going on between you two. _Now_". He says in serious. His mom suddenly bursts into laughter, making Fang raise an eyebrow, "What thing? Fang, there is nothing!, there is _nothing _going on between Mr. Ride and I. Might you forget I am married and have a son?" She asks eyes wide.

"Mom. Look, he's not the person you think he is, ple-"

"Fang, just_ please_, for once" She says begging to him with those motherly eyes. He sighs, "_Fine_" He grounds out and walks up to his room, slamming his door with complete anger

"Ah—ahh choo!" He sneezes out suddenly. Fang groans out, knowing he's gonna get a cold with this clothes.

He goes to his bathroom and strips his clothes off, hopping into the shower.

…**.**

_45 minutes later_

_3: 25 PM_

Fang jogs down the stairs, making his way into the dining room. "Oh hey sweetie. Finally, you're cleaned up. Ready to eat?" She asks him. "Mhm" Fang mumbles, ignoring Mr. Ride who is sitting across the table from him. In an awkward silence, Fang's mom starts to stir up conversation while pouring some apple sauce onto Fang's plate.

"You sure took a long time there honey" She says, glancing at Fang, now putting a load of green beans on his plate.

"Mm. Whatdya mean?" Fang asks, clasping both palms together, ready to pray; as their family always prays before eating. "Well, I mean…in the _shower._" Fang practically gags, knowing where this conversation is headed. "-I mean…I know you're turning into a grown man and all, so you…you know…need some alone time…especially when there's no girlfriend to satisfy your nee-" "Mom!" Fang blurts out, as his cheeks start heating up, "I've suddenly lost my appetite. I'm going up to my room." Fang pushes his chair in, and turning around quickly on his heel, hiding his full on blush. He hears Mr. Ride chuckle, "Boy will be boys!" He laughs and Fang's mother joins.

Fang runs upstairs as quick as he can, totally embarrassed as to what happened just now. He feels like he's been slapped on the face!

"Aghhhh!" Fang screams into his pillow as loud as he can. Thankfully, the pillow muffles his scream, so that way, no one will call 911 thinking someone is being murdered.

Yes, he's screaming_ that_ badly.

Fang rubs his eyes and turns around, now lying on his back. He stares at the ceiling.

Why hasn't his dad come yet?

Maybe he wasn't allowed to cut his shift.

_Great, my plan failed._ Fang thinks.

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_Next morning_

_8: 32 AM_

"C'mon Fang! Rise and shine honey!" His mother calls, opening his black drapes up, letting the sunlight come in his room.

Fang shifts his body to a better angle and continues sleeping, "Fang! Today's Sunday! Tomorrow's Monday, which means school, you have to be used to getting up early! C'mon" She tugs at his black comforters. "Mm" Fang mumbles. His mom swipes away his covers, practically leaving him naked. Fang feels sudden cool breeze hit him. "Mom!" He says grabbing the covers back and covering himself.

"Oh, it's just your boxers sweetie, nothing I haven't seen before. I used to take you a bath before when you were little, don't forget that" She says, folding his clothes that are thrown on the floor and grimaces when she sniffs a shirt that's thrown underneath his bed.

"Ugh. Yeah. Yeah" He mutters, rubbing his eyes and glancing at the time.

"Sweetie-" She sits down on his bed, near his legs, "I'm sorry about yesterday, making you run off like that. I must've embarrassed you huh? I wasn't thinking, I'm sorry" She rubs his back.

Fang takes the covers off his head and sits up, looking at his mom, "Mom, you didn't just embarrass me, you practically _violated _me!" and with that, he puts the covers over his head again.

She rolls her eyes, "Fang. I said I was sorry. Sweetie can I ask you something?" She asks, gently placing a hand on his covered shoulder.

"Can you please just go? And just to let you know, I'm not some horny teenage boy" He says, plopping himself back onto the mattress and shutting his eyes.

His mother chuckles, "Oh Fang, you say that now!" She says, chanting and walking out of his room.

_I can't believe I just had that conversation with my mother! Ugh!_

Twenty minutes later Fang wakes and washes up, dressing and going downstairs. He stuffs a random fruit in his mouth, taking a bite "Pppffffttt!" He spits it out onto the sink.

"Oh sweetie. Those are rotten I think. I forgot to take them out of the fridge last night" She says, walking over and pouring some tea into her cup.

Fang rolls his eyes, "Going outside. Want your plants watered?" Fang asks. She nods, smiling at him.

Fang goes to the closet room in the hallway of the living room and grabs the gardening hose; since the sprinkles only reach the up to the grass but not the flowers his mom has to the side of the yard.

"_Fine! Go take a hike! What do I care bitch!" _The sudden loud voice startles Fang.

"_Asswhole!"_Max's voice.

Fang looks back down at the hose, pretending to be minding his own business as the door from Max's house opens.

She exits and then sits on her staircase.

Fang turns on the hose and begins watering them, startling Max with the noise.

She puts a hand to her chest, "Oh. Just you" She says with relief. Fang ignores her but nods subtly, pretending to not be paying so much attention to her presence now.

He glances over; Max rubs her temples and sighs out.

"…."

"Can I borrow that hose?" Max suddenly asks, glancing back at her unwatered and dried up plants in her yard. The question popping up out of nowhere.

Fang looks up, "Wow. No snappy attitude?" He asks, ignoring her again and watering the next batch of plants.

Max rolls her eyes, walking over to his wooden fence. "Gimme the hose" She stretches out her arm to grab it but Fang pulls away just in time. She looks up at him and rolls her eyes again, _"Puh-lease?"_ She asks, annoyed now. Fang smirks, being in a playful mood all of a sudden, "Sure" He shrugs, stretching the hose out to Max in her direction. Max gasps, knowing what he's gonna do, "No, noooo, don't you da-aghh!" She screams as the water sprinkles her all over. Fang chuckles, "You're gonna pay" She says, grinning. "Oh really?" He asks. "Uh-huh!" She suddenly jumps over his fence and knocks him down, making the hose spray all over them and all over the already wet grass.

"Agh!" Fang chuckles as Max tackles him down.

She grabs dirt from the ground and spreads it all over his shirt. Fang gapes at her, "That was new!" He exclaims, all of a sudden grabbing her wrists and pinning her down. "Get off me!" She laughs. Max grabs the hose, turns it to _jet _and sticks it down Fang's pants. His eyes widen, "Ughhh" He groans out. Max laughs, "Wowww!" She laughs but he grabs her shoulder, pinning her down again. He grabs her by the collar of her shirt and pushes her against the dirt, which now most of it is damp mud from all the water. "Noo!" She laughs. She gets back up and turns around, he sees the huge patch of brown on her shirt and bursts out laughing. Max places both palms on his chest, pushing him back. He grabs her arm and tries to turn her around, "Aghh, stop!" He shouts while laughing. They both continue rolling all over the mud and damp grass.

"What the _hell_ is going on here!" Both Max and Fang gasp as they look up to see all their parents. Max's dad and Fang's mom and dad. Max blushes and pokes Fang's arm, motioning for him to get off her hips because they're sending their parents the wrong message of what they were doing.

"What the hell were you doing to my daughter!" Max's dad glares at him in fury as Fang's mom has a hand clasped over her mouth and his dad seeming disappointed, with his arms crossed.

"My poor garden" Fang's mom says as she frowns at the disaster Max and Fang made.

"Why are you two rolling around like some dirty pigs? Huh?" He shouts at Max, making her jump a bit.

"You're grounded! Grou-"

"Sir, please it's not her fault. I started this" Fang says, glancing back at Max and she looks away from him, biting her lip and looking down at her now muddy shoes.

"If you ever _touch _my daughter that way _again_, I swear I'm pressing charges! You'll be fucken sorry!"

Max's head suddenly looks up, "No! Dad, we were just playi-" "I don't wanna hear it! What would've happened if none of us would've caught you two doing this, would you two have fucked each other? Rolling around like _disgusting, dirty, filthy_ pigs!" He says. "Oh my" Fang's mom gasps out, a hand over her mouth. Her husband rubs her back reassuringly. "Mr. Ride. I am so very sorry. I understand you are _very _protective of your daughter just as I- _we_ are of our son, and I assure nothing would've happened. Their just kids, playing arou-"

"And if we didn't stop them, they were gonna_ fuck_ around too! Go upstairs to your room Max!" He shouts, putting a rough hand on her shoulder; making her wince.

No one notices but Fang.

_No one._

He's the only one who knows her secret.

Mr. Ride walks back to the house, following Max.

"Mr. Ride-" Fang's dad speaks up. "Please forgive our son. He truly is sorry. Right Fang?" he says, giving Fang the _look._

Much against his own will, Fang nods, "S-sorry" He says, but doesn't look at him.

What a _hypocrite_. That man.

Says one thing, does another.

The man nods, his face suddenly turns from that of pure disgust and rage into a sudden calmed appearance. He remembers that he has to play it _cool_ for others. He doesn't want anyone fining out his ways. "You are forgiven, please excuse me…Mr. and Mrs. Larkshale". (pronounced _Larks-Hale)_ Much to their horror in how they witnessed Max's dad treats his own daughter, they both nod. The mother smiles nervously. "Of course. C'mon Fang…_sweetie_" She says, emphasizing the word and as soon as Fang goes near his mom, she swipes him under her arms and gives him a huge warm hug, not caring that he's all wet and muddy. The dad shuts the door.

"Dad, I-"

"No, stop Fang! You've disappointed me yet again!" He sighs out.

Fang frowns, dropping his head, "But Herald! I didn't like how he spoke to my son! Such _vulgar_ words!" She says, protesting. "Neither did I, Sydney…but he threatened us with pressing charges! We can't be sued! It's best we wait a little while for this to pass and he'll forget and then we can go back to normal, living our normal lives, without all this tension!" He huffs out.

"Wh-I wasn't even doing anything to her!" Fang retorts back, defending himself. It's true…they were only _playing _around like kids, having a fun mud fight. It's not like Fang was touching Max in an inappropriate manner like how her dad does to her.

"Son. Lower your voice." The dad says, in a calm and exhausted manner.

Fang rolls his eyes.

"You know what. I'm getting a headache. I'm going to bed. Good night Fang. See you in the morning." She kisses her son's head and goes into her bedroom.

"Can't you just be your normal quiet self?" His dad teases. Fang huffs and rolls his eyes.

"Son. Don't worry. Just go back to doing what you were doing" He pats Fang's back and walks off, into his home office.

Fang sighs, heading upstairs to take a shower.

_Why does it always seem like I'm the bad guy?_

…**..**

_12: 54 AM_

"_You stupid whore! You belong to me! What did I tell you about not having boyfriends huh? Are you asking me to hit you!"_

"_Shut up! And he's not my boyfriend!"_

Fang jolts up, out of bed, his hair once again mussed and everywhere, pointing in all directions.

He glances at his clock, to see the time.

12:56 AM

"Why does this have to happen every single day?" Fang groans out into his pillow.

"_Stop it! I'll go to the police! Don't tou-"_

"_No you won't. You're too scared to! Fucken pussy!"_

Max's shriek of pain is heard.

"_Aghhhhhhhhhhhh!-"_

It suddenly stops.

Fang's eyes open. He gets out of bed and heads over to his window.

He grabs the drapes and turns them a bit slightly to see what's going on.

"Whoa" Fang mutters under his breathe as he sees a plate flying out of nowhere. Then a cup.

"_Bitch! You're crazy! That's it, I'm chaining you up downstairs!"_

"_Noo! Pleaaasee! Okay! I'll stop. I'll do whatever you want! Pleeaaase don't isolate me!" _

"_C'mere! Papa won't isolate you baby!"_ He grabs her forcefully and he shrieks out.

"_Aghh! You little slut! How dare you!"_

"_Aghhh!"_

Once again, Fang jolts out of bed.

Fang glances back at his door, thinking he heard a noise. He looks back to his window and gasps. There, Max stands in the lingerie outfit her dad had bought her and forced her to put on.

Fang's eyes widen.

"_Help me"_ She mouths to Fang, seeing him.

Fang throws his head back, groaning and rubbing his eyes; hoping it's just a nightmare.

…

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**Review please :)**


	4. You Don't Know Me

**Just Watch**

**Chapter 4**

You Don't Know Me

Ah, how graceful this be. Waking up to the lovely chirping of birds outside in your backyard trees. The fresh scent of autumn coming in through your window, just grazing above you. The quiet sounds of your mother humming as she walks across the hall, past your room, carrying a load of laundry with her…

Peace.

Quiet.

No sounds whatsoever.

Everything is nice.

What a minute…._peace, quiet, nice? _

Fang jolts up out of bed with widened eyes and terror glued to his face. He struggles out of his comforters as they wrap around his legs. He kicks them off and rushes to his window, grabbing onto the sill roughly as his body comes forth, almost falling out through the opened window. He grabs his black drapes almost viciously and pulls them open; now eyeing the _mere, utter, silence…_

_going on in Max's home._

His heart races. He doesn't know what to think except…_Max could be dead! _Where is all the noise? The loud screams, the shattering of glass! _Nothing._

This could only mean one thing. He cocks his head a little, gulping; swallowing that dry lump that built up in the center of his throat, grimacing ever so slightly at the thoughts of what could've happened to Max. When suddenly-

"_Bitch! Wake up! Go to school!" _

He keeps starring, out his window, his mouth agape in both relief and realization. His hands based on the horizontal frame of his window. His chest heaves slightly as that voice immediately makes him feel so much relief.

Max is just sleeping

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"You ready?" Fang's mom asks him as she begins to do the house work.

"Yup" His mom gives him a quick peck on the cheek before he walks out the door. "Later" He mutters. His mother rolls her eyes at his use of slang towards her as if she were one of his 'guy friends'.

He heads out the door, "crap" He mutters, suddenly remembering something and turning swiftly on his heel. He turns around and heads towards the entrance.

"Forget something sweetie?" His mom asks him, vacuuming the house.

"Wallet" He mutters, heading into the direction of the stairs.

"What? I can't hear you!" She shouts over the loud noise of the vacuum.

"I said wallet" He says a little louder this time. She signals to him, still not hearing him and he huffs out, walking up to the wire and unplugging it, turning the vacuum off. His mother immediately stops vacuuming and gives him the look. "My wallet" He says with wide eyes in a _duh _tone. "Oh. Okay" She plugs it back in and continues doing the house cleaning.

Fang walks up to his room and opens the door, heading to his desk drawer, grabbing his leather wallet. He grabs it and heads out, but stops…

He sees something through the corner of his eye and looks out his window. He spots Max's father drinking a bottle of liquor while leaning against the kitchen counter.

He looks over, glaring to Fang's direction, sensing a pair of eyes on him. Fang gasps, immediately turning his back against the wall and then runs downstairs.

..

"Bye mom" Fang mutters, "Bye swee-oh, do you need a ride home from school or-will your father pick you up?" She asks, looking up from mopping the floor. Fang thinks for a second, "Uh, I always walk back home" He says. She puts the mop down and looks up at him, "Well, yeah….but I mean, sweetie I just want you to be safe, just the other day I heard something on the news about four men assaulting a school kid. I think it'll be best if I give you a ri-"

"Mom, it's fine. Don't worry" He says to her, breaking eye contact mid sentence as he walks out the door leaving his mother with a surprised face. He jogs out his doorway and walks down the sidewalk.

"….."

Feeling a sudden presence near him, he turns around. He looks from the corner of his eye and spots Max's father glaring at him through his window; both fists clenched and tight. Fang takes a deep inhale and decides to ignore it, continuing to walk.

….

….

...

..

.

School

"…yeah I agree, total blow. So dude, last night I phoned up Nu- dude!" Iggy shouts causing Fang to snap back into reality. "Huh?" Fang says with a surprised face but it quickly returns back to its impassive structure. "Are you even listening to a word I say?" Iggy asks in amazement. Fang nods, "Uh yeah" Iggy raises an eyebrow, "Really? What was I just talking about then?" Iggy crosses his arms and leans against his locker, waving as Nudge and her group pass by them and smile. "That….you hate chemistry?" Fang asks more than states. Iggy rolls his eyes, "FAIL" He states. Fang drops his gaze away from Iggy and down to the newly polished floor, thinking again. "Anyways, hey you wanna hang with Dyl and-"

"Oh, hold on Ig, be right back" Fang says motioning quickly with his hands to Iggy and seeming to put his stare onto _another _person.

"What the he-aww! I see what's going on! You're crushing on Max" Iggy snickers, starring into Max's direction. Fang punches his arm playfully, "No, I'm not." He says, waiting for her to pass by them.

Max doesn't notice Fang yet though. As she walks past, she hears Lissa's loud obnoxious voice as she converses with Brigid.

"…_.oh really? Haha yeah, what a bitch"_ Lissa snorts out, talking to Brigid, setting her eyes on Max; looking her up and down, grimacing as she walks by them. Max notices and decides to shrug it off her shoulder, gripping her shoulder bag tighter.

"…_exactly, and she's like totally—Fang!" _Lissa blurts his name out as she spots him walking down the hall, thinking he's coming towards her when in reality, he's approaching Max. "Heeey, did you get my message I se- Fang!" Lissa shouts as Fang ignores her and walks past without a response. She scoffs out, "Whatever" and walks down the hall with Brigid, both their heels clicking loudly down the lockers.

Fang stops and comes to an intersection, looking for Max down the incredibly long and complex hallways of their school. "Max!" He shouts, running to her, making people notice as they turn their heads back and stare at him. He does feel a bit anxious about talking to her, since yesterday was, well…awkward. He stops a bit and jogs slowly, catching up to Max and gently grabbing her elbow, barely touching her. She turns around and gives him a _Do I know you? _sort of look. Just as he's about to open his mouth to speak, Max rapidly puts both palms on his chest and shoves him against the lockers, his back slamming to it, making a loud noise that runs down the hall. People stop chatting and gossiping and turn their attention towards Max and Fang now, eyeing them in such a curious and nosy fashion.

Fang gives Max a shocked face and she steps closer to him, their faces inches away. She sets her hands down onto the collar of his black polo and grips it tightly, wrinkling it.

"Don't _ever _touch me like that, _ever! _Do it again, and I'll press charges!"

She huffs out in anger, referring to yesterday when they were playing around in his front yard, making messes and mud fights. Max glares at him with such rage. At least, that's what everyone else sees. The people surrounding them, other students. But all Fang sees right now in Max is her _father. _He knows those are her father's words, _not _hers. Not Max's.

_He obviously threatened her._

So she's trying to push Fang away, not wanting any contact from him…or his family.

Other students start whispering to each other, gossiping about those two. Max glares at him, letting go of his shirt and stomps off, walking down the hall.

"Dude!" Iggy runs up to Fang and motions with his hands, "What was _that!_"

….

….

…..

…

..

.

Creative Writing Class

"Alright people!" The teacher chants, "-I'm in a fun mood today, sooo…why don't you all put your textbooks away!" She claps her hands and the students immediately exclaim in joy. "Now, each of you will make a project" She is automatically rewarded with the bored groans and complaints of the students as they hear the word 'project'.

"People!" Mrs. Reed calls their attention, suddenly losing her good 'fun' mood. "C'mon it'll be fun! You will each have a partner to work wi-" Again, most of the students cut her off by this time, exclaiming in joy.

"Ahem, I meant an _assigned _partner" She puts emphasis on the word 'assigned' earning groans from students. She grins at her students, "And this is why I love being a teacher! Anyways-" Mrs. Reeds walks over to her desk and grabs a clipboard. "Near the end of class, I will give you and your partner one packet explaining what you are to write about and the format of how your project should look." She glances down at the papers. "Alright…hmmm….lets see, who to pair, who to pa- ah hah! I knooow! Alright Brigid with…." She looks at the clipboard, her eyes skimming down. "Iggy!"

"-the hell?" Iggy blurts out and the teachers glares at him, "Language!" She shouts. He sighs out and turns his gaze to Brigid, they both give ugly looks at each other. Fang sees and smirks, Iggy glares at him. "Chelsea…with Dave…Adam…Lissa, He- "

"_A fucken nerd! Are you kidding me?"_ Lissa scoffs out, "oh wait, he's smart…never mind!" She grins at her partner Dave, and he grins back, his eyes sparkling through his huge framed glasses. This time she gives him a fake smile, looking like a grimace. Others laugh. "Anyways…ah! Max…with…."

Fang can't help but turn his head towards Max, cautiously. He sees her mouthing something to herself, "Please not Fang, please not Fang, please no-"

"Faaaang!" The teacher chants, once again.

Max throws both palms flatly on the surface of her desk, "what?" She gets the teachers attention, "Ms. Ride, I will not change the assigned pa-"

"I'd love to be partners with her" Fang mutters, looking up at the teacher.

Everyone suddenly turns their heads to Fang, making him drop his gaze down to his textbook. "Shit" He mutters very quietly to himself, realizing what he just said and feeling embarrassed about it.

Everyone bursts with laughter except Max and the teacher, of course.

"Students, please!" She shouts and they all quiet up.

"You may take this discussion about Fang _'loving'_ Max else where but not in my classroom!" She glares at them with wide eyes. Max glances at Fang and he notices, sinking down low on his chair, hiding his face with his arm.

…

….

….

"Fuck!" Max blurts out in total shock as she closes her locker and sees Fang leaning against another locker next to hers.

"Would you stop that? You're such a freak" She mutters, glaring at him for a second, shoving some books and a ziplock bag full of chips into her bag. Fang eyes her bag casually and looks up at her. Max huffs and rolls her eyes, "Would you stop starring at me?" She once again, stomps off in a fit.

Fang rolls his eyes, "Look…like it or not, we're partners for this project and we're _gonna_ work together" Fang states, looking into Max's eyes. She quickly breaks the contact and looks away, her long hair falling onto her face but she quickly puts it behind her ear.. "Whatever" She says. Fang rolls his eyes again, "After school, Roadsteins Library ok?" He asks, but means for it to be a statement instead of a question. Max turns to him and grimaces "Ugh, you're not the boss of me" She scoffs out and starts to walk away from him, yet having lost his patience with her, Fangs walks off into the opposite direction, across the hallway and slamming the door open, exiting out.

_Am I really that repulsive?_

…

"Why do you have to be such a bitch about things?" Lissa slams Max against the lockers. Max drops her books on accident, and glares at Lissa; stepping forward. "Lissa, I am _not_ in the mood for this! So back the fuck off-!" She yells, pushing Lissa away and she trips over her own 6 inch heel, "Agh!" Lissa screeches in pain, "My ankle! You _bitch_!" She shouts and Brigid comes over to check on her, grimacing at Max. Max runs off and Fang shows up at an intersection just in time, "Hi!" He automatically blurts out as they suddenly bump into each other, but not really making any body contact; their chests almost touching however. "You ready?" He asks. Max rolls her eyes, "Don't fuck with me" She grounds out, being in a bad mood and moves to the other side since Fang's in her way.

"_Whooaa_ who said I wanted to do _that _with you?"

He jokes, humor mixed with his deep voice but obviously Max takes it the wrong way and turns around, making Fang confused for a second. He raises an eyebrow at her. Next thing you know, she's giving him a hard kick in his personal area. Fang gasps as if the air was just sucked out of him, immediately gripping onto the crotch of his jeans. He drops his books and his messenger bag; falling onto his knees, clutching his area. "W-what the hell is your problem?" He groans out, wincing.

"I told you to leave me the fuck alone!" She yells and turns around to walk away, but quickly runs after a while.

Fang hits the cement floor with his fist in anger and grunts out, still recovering from the hard knee Max gave him.

….

"She kneed you? Ahh, sorry man!" Iggy says, patting Fang's back, feeling his pain.

Fang nods, "I don't love her anymore" He says, but obviously joking since he never really did 'love' Max to begin with. Iggy chuckles and grins at him. "What's you proje-"

"_I'm gonna kill you!" _

They both stop speaking in sudden horror, as they hear that voice full of rage coming from Max's house.

They both stand up and head to Fang's window. "Dude, I can't see anything" Iggy says, "They must be upstairs then" Fang mutters; both still looking out his window trying to peak at the view of Max's kitchen and living room.

"_You asshole! C'mere girl!"_

"_Stop it! You son of a bi-agh!" _She suddenly shrieks out in pain. Fang assumes her dad must have hit her.

"And this is what you have to put up with everyday?" Iggy asks, frowning.

Fang plops himself onto his bed, groaning out, "Everyday damn day for the rest of my damned life"

"Dude. Why don't you just tell your parents?"

Fang sits up, "What, you don't think I've tried that already? Besides, they're trying to lay low for now, her dad threatened us with pressing charges if I ever come into contact with Max ever again"

"But she's your partner"

"I know" Fang sighs out, "For my parents' sake, her dad can't find out"

"…So now what?"

"Now…I study" Fang turns his body around, his chest now pressing against the mattress and he grabs a book out from his bag, opening it and beginning his studies.

…

12: 34 AM

"_Goodnight Fang! Sleep well!"_

"You too mom!" Fang shouts back from the other side of the house.

He lays his head on his pillow, drifting off into sleep.

Fang opens his eyes, waking up in a pitch black room.

_What is this place? _Fang thinks, blindly walking around, his hand now coming into contact with a cold metal rail.

He suddenly feels a hot breath trickle on the back of his neck. "I told you not to touch my daughter!"

Fang gasps out, feeling something sharp penetrate through his organs and then retrieve itself back out of his flesh. His body falls limply onto the cold floor.

..

Fang jumps out of his bed, gasping for air at a very desperate rate, nearly choking as waking up from the nightmare still had an aftermath effect on him. He turns on his lamp from his nightstand and places his hands on his abdominal area, now being relieved that it really was a dream and that he wasn't really stabbed from behind.

….

…

"Have you seen max?" Fang asks Iggy as he rushes up to him.

"Yeah, right down the hall. Dude, she's acting pretty weird tho-" Fang runs, not hearing the rest of what Iggy has to say. He decides he's no longer pissed at her for doing what she did yesterday; kneeing him.

"Max!" Fang shouts her name, grabbing her by the shoulder. She turns around and his eyes widen at the huge scar across the right side of her face, starting at her cheek bone and ending to the corner of her lip.

He stares at her with dread, making her feel somewhat uncomfortable now. Max bites her lip and Fang can see the slightest glint in her eyes.

She's about to cry.

But this wasn't the Max from yesterday. What happened to aggressive, enraged, pissed off Max?

Max's lip turns into a frown and she turns her head to the side, her long hair covering the scar. Fang says nothing though. Neither of them do. He knows exactly who did this to Max. And _she_ knows that _he _knows who exactly did this to her.

Max takes a step forward, putting in her locker combo and opening the small metallic door. She grabs several books out of it and shoves them into her bag. Fang watches her do so. He looks away from her, his gaze dropping to the floor, still not having a clue of what to say. And he's definitely not going to comfort her. After all, Max _hates _him.

She _hates_ him.

Max _hates_ Fang.

And given the attitude she perfused over him yesterday, he must _hate_ her as well.

However, this time Max says nothing of his presence. No rude comments, _nothing._

She does however, feel his eyes are on her, once again. Fang licks his bottom lip, not knowing what to say. A small whimper escapes Max's mouth and Fang looks up, noticing. Max clasps a hand onto her lips. She shoves several books into her locker as fast as she can and then runs to the direction of girl's restroom. Fang doesn't stop her though; he doesn't even call her name.

He rubs his eyes with his hand and slams his forehead against the lockers, huffing out.

He thinks to just walk away and forget it all. He simply can't though. But he turns and notices that Max's locker is still open, forgetting to close it shut. Something in there catches his eye though. A small receptacle. He takes it out and reads the many words on the label: _Choose the safe way. Choose birth control._

Fang's mouth falls agape and he looks at all directions, shoving the container into his bag. He thinks that this may come in handy. Maybe he should show them to his parents. Maybe then they would believe him. Just maybe.

"Fang" Lissa grins, appearing out of nowhere. "Oh, hi" He says quietly. She grins more, "Sooo….did you get my message?" Fang raises his eyebrows in confusion but then realizes what she's talking about. He runs a hand through his silky black hair and lets out a sigh. Lissa frowns at his gesture.

"Uhh, Lissa…listen-"

"Yeah?" She smiles at him, placing a hand on his shoulder and trailing it down to his arm.

"I'm not-" He looks her in the eyes, "-interested. Sorry". With that, Lissa's mouth falls open and her huge smile turns into a frown. Fang nods and begins to walk away. Lissa, stops him however; she grabs onto his arm, "But why?-" She looks at him with wide eyes and a desperate face. Fang rolls his eyes, "I'm _hot_, I'm the baddest girl in school! I've got it all! What-" She comes to realize something and laughs a bit, "-don't tell me that you like that Max bitch instead?". Fang sighs out, losing his patience, "Just drop it" He says and forcefully grabs his arm out of Lissa's grip, walking away now.

…

Fang's house

"Hey how was school?" His mom asks him, looking up from chopping the lettuce. "Good." He mutters, dragging his feet upstairs. "Everything alright?"

"Mhm" He stops walking and stretches his arms a bit, his messenger bag sliding off his arm.

"Okay. Dinner will be ready in 20"

"Ok" He quickly jogs upstairs, out of his mother's sight.

She spots his bag on the floor and walks up to it, "Oh Fang, you forgot your-" Something falls out and rolls onto the carpet.

The small container, "Huh? What's th-" She drops it, placing her hand over her mouth, realizing what it is.

…

"Fang. You're ready?"

"Yeah" Fang walks up to the dining room, pulling out his chair.

"Hello son" He gives Fang a pat on the back as he joins them on the dinner table.

Fang picks up his fork and begins, ready to eat but feels that both his parents eyes are on him. He sighs, placing the fork back down and clasping his palms together, in a praying pose. "We gonna pray or what?" He mutters. "Wha- Oh! Yes! But-" His mother stares at her husband. Fang realizes there must be something his parents want to discuss with him about. "Alright. Shoot" Fang says, eyeing both his parents. "Um…sweetie." She stops and looks at his father. "Tell him Sydney" He looks at her. Fang glances at both his parents. "Well?" Fang says, losing his patience. "Fang…we just wanna tell you that, you're not alone" His mom states. Fang frowns at her answer, not knowing what she's talking about. But then it hits him. They must be talking about Max. They believe him now. "I'm not?" Fang asks, getting his hopes up. His dad shakes his head, "No son. We realize this must be hard to keep to yourself." He says to Fang, looking him in the eye. Now his mother speaks, "I mean, sweetie…now we realize…_why_ it is you do this…we just wanna apologize" Fang's mouth drops slightly open, "Apologize? For what?" He asks.

"For not believing you!" His mom blurts out, she gets off her chair and stands to go hug Fang.

"Um, ok? So. Who do we call?" Fang asks them, wanting to know whether they should inform the police or whoever.

"Well. There is a number your father and I could call. You know, get some help. Oh sweetie, but why didn't you tell us before? You're not the only one. Lots of teens go through this." She starts fanning the tears building up in her eyes. Fang pulls himself out of his mom's tight hug. "I did! And none of you believed me" Fang says, now looking down at his plate of food, feeling very hungry all of a sudden.

"But you could've talked about it more to us son" He comes up and starts rubbing Fang's back. "Did you not trust us with this?"

"But I told you" Fang says in defense, flipping his hair out of his face.

"No, not really"

"Wait, what are you talking about, because I di-"

"You're transgender!" His mom cuts him off.

Fang mouth drops open, "What?" He shouts out in total embarrassment.

"Fang, I found the pills! You're on birth control!"

His eyes widen and he can't think of what to say, he just stares at both his parents with a shocked face, just as shocked as his parents. "Son, do you have any clue what this can do to your testosterone levels? Your hormones? Why can't you accept yourself for who you are son?"

"Mom, dad I-"

"Fang, you want to be a female?"

"NO!" Fang shouts at them, in total humiliation. "You guys are crazy! Just hear me out." Both his parents sit back down and look at the now seemingly very pissed-off Fang. He continues, "I found these-" He snatches the bottle from his mom's hands, "-in Max's locker. Birth control. Now think, why would _she_ need them? She's –"

"Period pains sweetheart!" His mom blurts out, trying not to laugh at his lack of knowledge on females.

Fang's face goes red, he coughs out. "That's besides the point. Mom, dad…she _needs_ these because she doesn't wanna end up having her own father's kid." Fang says, glaring at them, but not with hatred, but because he mentioned the phrase, 'Max's father'. One he hates so much.

"Son, just stop!" His dad blurts out, getting annoyed at the fact that Fang tries to bring up Max's father into every conversation he has with them.

"I'm telling you the tru-"

"Go to your room" His dad says sternly, with coldness in his voice.

"What?" His mouth drops open and he stares at his father with such anger.

"I said go to your room. Enough. Alright?"

"No. Listen to m-"

"_Fang. _I'm warning you"

"Dad. Mom. _Listen_-"

"_Fang" _His father grinds out, now growing very frustrated with the fact that his son is misbehaving and not listening to his own authority figure.

"Shut up! Let me talk!" Fang suddenly spits out with rage, pounding his fists onto the glass table, making his mom jump up. She stares at both Fang and her husband in such horror; as if they are crazy.

"_GET THE FUCK UPSTAIRS NOW, FANG!" _His father screams at him from the top of his lungs, his voice now getting a bit scratchy.

Fang closes his eyes and angrily runs a hand though his hair, trying to control his anger through his heavy enraged exhales. He lets out a small laugh. "I can't _believe _you don't believe me" Fang's glare quickly disappears towards his dad and he slowly moves his head to his mother's direction, now starring at her, with hope... Fang waits. He waits. He waits for her to stand up for him, to _believe _him. To say _something. _

_Anything._

No.

His own _mother_ doesn't believe him.

With this, he stands up, doesn't even bother to push his chair in or pick his plate up and runs straight upstairs.

His mom sniffs out, recovering from her small tear fest. "Herald, we need to-"

She stops herself abruptly as the loud slamming of Fang doors is heard, startling them both.

…..

…

..

.

"Hey" Fang greets her as he sets his books down on the table. "Someone looks pissed" Max says, being straightforward. Fang glares at her, taking her aback. _"whatever" _she mouths. "Did you do the research?" She asks him, grabbing her pencil case from her bag. He huffs out in realization, his face falling into his palms, "I forgot" He breathes out, closing his eyes. "Oh" Max says with a now cold manner, "Then how the hell do you expect us to do the assignment?" Again, with such coldness she inflicts upon her voice. Fang looks up, from the table, meeting her eyes. He squints his eyes in anger, leaning a little closer to her but not too close. "I'm not the only person _assigned_ to work on this project" He says harshly at her, glaring. "Okay, well, I don't have a computer at my house" She replies. Fang licks his bottom lip unconsciously, "And you tell me that _now?" _Max grimaces at him, not liking this new attitude he's displaying towards her, "Okay, what the hell is your problem? Not that I care-" She stops, putting her books back into her bag. Fang slams his palm on the table, on top of the paper Max was going to put away into her bag. He looks down at it, "Fine, then I won't tell you". He begins mentally reading it. " 'Kay go" He says, glancing at her, sliding the paper to her. "Which part?" She asks him. "Second" He responds.

"….."

"Sooooo, we basically have to-" She lifts her hands up, making a gesture. "You have no clue do you?' Fang chuckles a bit, "Are you calling me stupid?" Max asks, getting pissed that he just implied she's stupid. "No. But maybe you should pay attention in class more often" He says slowly. Max grimaces, "You know what? I'm _not_ working on this with you"

"Okay.-" He closes the packet of stapled papers up, since in a way, Max just implied that they are no longer working together. Fang continues, "-Get an F. What do I care?" He crosses his arms as she stands up, getting ready to leave.

"_Fine. _Work on it _yourself…_asshole" Max grinds out, grimacing at him.

Fang scoffs, "This is the last project for the semester. Get an F and you'll basically fail the whole class" Fang says casually, not really caring at what her reaction might be.

Much to his surprise, Max sits back down. "I'll work with you on this project. But after that, we're _done_. We'll no longer speak to each other. We'll have nothing to do with each other. Got it? I _don't _need you" She spits out, as her threatening voice comes out across to him.

"Fine.-" He says with humor in his voice as he gives her a little smirk. Max raises an eyebrow, "I just find it kinda funny. I mean, yeah high school life stresses…but who would've thought that being fucked by your own father everyday really takes its toll on you huh?" He jokes out, but still glaring at her and with a little smirk on his face; not at all appreciating the way she treats him.

Max's confused and threatening face slowly turns from one of that into a small frown. She blinks several times, trying to fight back the tears threatening to spill out. It's not though, until one small tear begins to trail its way down her cheek that Fang realizes how much he's hurt her emotionally.

She grabs her bag from the back of the chair and runs away, exiting the library. "Max wai-" He stops himself, realizing that finishing the rest of his sentence isn't going to stop her from running away…

_Crying._

Because he hurt her.

Because he crossed the line.

…..

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**I'm sorry for the long wait T^T Review please :) Thank you for the previous reviews, I enjoy reading them :) MORE reviews = FASTER updates! :) I'll have the new chapter of Neverending Things up as soon as I finish it :) **


	5. I Still Don't Like You

**EDIT: I added a new A/N at the bottom, in case you read this chapter before I edited it with the A/N. **

**I also have an update on Neverending Things. I didn't want to update it on the story itself because then people might be like, "YAY SHE UPDATED, FINALLY! :DDD" only to find out **

**it's an a/n. I know I wouldn't like that lol.**

* * *

**Just Watch**

**Chapter 5:**

I Still Don't Like You

Another boring day…

"Hi Max" He says, sounding somewhat tired.

She is shocked to see him here, standing in her front porch.

"What the hell are you doing here? Go before my dad sees you!" She hisses.

"Wait, Max. Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I was being insensitive. I'm really sorry. Forgive me?" He asks her, with hope to his face.

Max sighs out, "Whatever. Now leave".

"No" He says.

Max looks totally dumfounded by this, "Whatdya mean _no? _Get out".

"I don't want this to keep happening to you". He himself is surprised to actually hear those words coming from his own mouth.

"What happens to me is my business and-hey what are you doing?" She struggles against his grip. Fang lifts her sleeve up a bit and points to it,

"See? He's hurting you. Why can't you see that? He's not really your father".

Max rolls her eyes, getting out of his death grip. She looks at her now red arm,

"Ugh-" She looks up at him, "that's gonna leave a mark", she glares at him.

Fang shrugs, "you're used to it, so it doesn't matter, right?" He asks.

Max takes a step closer, "Are you testing me? _Don't _test me".

"Okay, you tell me what I'm supposed to do? It's not like I can ignore the fact that my neighbor is beaten up by her own father every day! I've been just standing there like some idiot and doing nothing for 13 whole years! I _have _to do something now".

"What, so you just wanna be the hero in all this? I told you, I _don't _need saving!"

With that, she shoves him away and slams the door shut. He can definitely hear her indistinct sobs coming from the other side of the door.

"Aghh" Fang sighs out in defeat. He rests his forehead against the door.

"You don't have to push everyone away. If you ever need someone…I'm here" He begins to speak quietly, sure that she can hear him clearly as her back rests against the door.

…

"It's not fair…it's not _fair! _Why did you have to die?" Max sobs out, on her knees kneeling against the floor. She looks up at the ceiling, knowing her mother can see her. She hopes she's not alone. Well, we all do at some point. She is sure Fang has left by now. She's sure he can't hear her say something so personal. In her eyes, he has absolutely no concern on this matter.

….

"…don't forget to hand in that report by Wednesday Max!" A teacher calls out as she spots Max walking down the hallway, passing her classroom door.

"Yeah, I won't!" Max replies, walking off.

"Hey" An all too familiar voice startles her.

Max gasps, "What did I tell you about doing that?"

"Oh-" He looks down, somewhat offended,

"-sorry" He replies, licking his lip at the thought of what to say next. She begins walking away once again since he says nothing more.

"Wait…" He gently grabs her elbow again.

"_And _that" She says. He lets go,

"Sorry" he mutters, "I'm sorry Max. I really am" He looks her way as they both walk down the hall.

"You already said that" she now sounds somewhat impatient.

"I know-" He sighs, "-But…to be truthfully honest…I feel like a jerk now" He confides to her, Max rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, you were…so why don't you go _jerk _off, huh?"

Fang grimaces at Max's response. He still can't believe how sarcastic and rude she can be, even after he's told her he's very sorry. His _deepest _apologies he has told her, yet she still treats him like this?

"Max…can you stop being so…_rude?_" He asks with wide eyes, once again, touching her arm, not noticing though; doing it unconsciously.

"I'll _stop _when _you _stop pretending that you actually care-"

"I do! What makes you think I don't?"

"But why?" Max throws her arms in the air as if to express her inquiry.

Fang shrugs, "Is it a crime?" He asks, eyed widened again.

Max looks down at her feet, thinking and cocking her head this way and that, biting her lip.

"No, but…you _confuse _me…." Her voice trails off and she stares at random people walking down the hallway.

"Really?" Fang asks in amazement that he tries to hide, "So do you" He says to her.

Max nods slowly and then picks up the pace,

"Sooo…okay, we have an understanding" She once again trails off.

Fang begins to nod slowly, "We cool now?" He asks, seeming hopeful.

"Fine, whatever" She slurs out, crosses her arms and leans against the lockers, taking a deep breathe as Fang watches her with awe; his lips parted slightly. Max notices and starts to have a mixed emotion of self-consciousness.

"Ummm" She trails off, looking at the other students passing by, now biting her nails.

"There you are!" A voice brakes their little moment. Fang turns around to see Iggy happily walking over.

"Ah, my two love-birds! How are you today?" He brings them close and hugs them each with one arm slung around their necks and shoulders.

"Uh, who are you?" Max asks, cocking her head over to get a better view of his face. Iggy's grin falls, "Dude, you didn't tell her?"

"Huh, what?" Fang asks, looking somewhat tired now. Iggy begins to chuckle at Fang. "Duuude, I know that face" he points to the side of Fang's face causing him to grab Iggy's finger and wrap his hand around it.

"Ow" Iggy mutters, swiping his finger away and now looking down at his reddish finger.

"I'm Iggy. You can call me Igs, Ig, whatever you'd like." He says, smiling to Max.

"Um, okay" She says.

"Fang talks about you a lot" Iggy blurts out, still grinning at Max.

Much to both Max and Iggy's surprise, Fang's eyes almost protrude out of their sockets, "No, dude!-" He slaps Iggy's back,

"Shut up" He grinds out behind his clenched teeth, hoping Max won't hear him or at least, understand what he's saying.

"He's crazy, d-don't listen to him".

"What's this? The Mighty Dark and Silent One is having trouble speaking?" Iggy asks jokingly.

Fang rolls his eyes, "Seriously, he's crazy. Don't listen to him." Max nods her head, pretending to believe him but clearly doesn't.

"Right-" She says, adding emphasis to the 't'.

"I gotta go. Bye" and spins on her heel to begin walking away.

Iggy still grins like a total doofus as he watches her leave and then he turns to catch a glaring Fang, "Wha?" Iggy asks, slightly chuckling.

"I'm gonna kill you" Fang mutters, punching Iggy on the arm but somehow not being able to hide his grin.

"See ya man!" Iggy hollers as Fang walks to the same direction as Max. Fang responds by flipping him off to which Iggy grins.

…

"Hey" He says very silently as he finds her sitting beneath a tree; resting a bit.

"Is that all you're programmed to say, _hey?_" Fang gives her a little glare.

"Okay, _hi_" Max responds, glancing up at him before closing her eyes.

"….."

After a moment of silence, Fang decides to take action so he sits next to her, startling her a bit as she opens her eyes back up only to see him right next to her.

"You have a talent for that huh?" She asks, closing her eyes again.

Fang shrugs, smirking. "I like your bracelet" He mutters, after a moment of her not replying though, he curses himself mentally wishing he had not said that.

"Thanks" She mutters after a long while of him waiting for his reply.

"Can I ask you something?" She asks, still resting her eyes. Fang nods, and then remembers she can't see him nodding, so he replies instead, "sure" he says; now resting his head against his messenger bag.

"Are you gay?"

"What?" Fang blurts out in shock. Max opens her eyes.

"You just don't seem….._straight_…no offense." She says, looking him up and down. Fang rolls his eyes, "Thanks, jackass" He mutters, feeling offended now. Oh great, just when they were headed off to a nice start.

"Look, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings…I'm just sayin'. That's all" She says back. "Whatever" Fang replies, "And _no_, I'm not gay." He adds.

"Bi?" She asks.

"No!" He once again, shouts out the answer.

"Wow, you seem to lose your patience _a lot_" She says.

Fang huffs out, "because you're making me!" He shouts.

"Okay, okay. Watch you turn into Hulk next. Calm down." She says.

"….."

Fang decides to make conversation again this time, growing easily bored.

"What made you think I'm gay?" He asks, looking over at her long hair. Max notices and thinks it's funny, smiling a little bit.

"Just…well, you said you liked my bracelet" She says, looking at him now.

"So?" He asks, "It's _pink_." She motions.

"Oh. Then I must need glasses" He says dryly, still looking at her and notices a smile beginning to form on her lips. She looks away, her long falling onto the sides of her face, as always.

"Don't look away. Your smile's…pretty" He mutters, eyeing the grass they're sitting on.

"Umm, thanks?" She puts her hair behind her over her back.

"Sorry" Fang says, now feeling somewhat embarrassed. Max looks at him.

"Sorry? For complimenting me? I suppose you take it back then and decide my smile's ugly now" She says, frowning.

"Noooo" He says slowly.

"You're soo….._confusing_" She admits once again.

Fang shrugs, smirking a little. "And somehow I think that flatters you….knowing you confuse people. You like to confuse people right, The Mighty Dark and Silent One?" mocking Iggy from earlier, which Fang smiles at.

"Can I ask you something?" Fang asks, now seriously speaking. He finds it funny how their whole conversation consists of nothing but mainly questions and sarcastic comments. Max looks away from him, knowing it's going to be a personal question about her father and her.

"Why do you let him hit you?"

She was right.

"You know…I have to go" Max stands up, but just as she's about to swipe her bag away, Fang also grabs onto it, "Wait…" He says,

"Please, answer my question?" He asks in a soft tone, looking up at her now standing position.

Max grabs it more forcefully and soon it's out of his hands.

"You wouldn't understand" She mutters, now walking out into the parking lot, maybe walking to her home.

Too bad for her, Fang's just as stubborn as she is.

"Wait" He jogs up to her.

"C'mon. When tomorrow comes, are you gonna act like you hate me again?" He asks, keeping up with her pace as she's walking pretty fast.

"That's the plan" Max replies.

"But, I don't understand. _Why _do you do it?" He asks. This makes her stop…and think.

Max huffs out, now becoming annoyed with Fang.

"I don't know!" She throws her arm in the air.

"Fine-" He steps closer to her till they are several inches apart, intimidating Max a bit as she now notices all his features by how close he is to her. She looks up at him, looking at his face. Looking at those deep black eyes, those eyes you can melt in. Looking at those bold and thick lashes and black eyebrows which are not too thick yet too thin. Looking at his perfectly shaped nose, with no bumps on the bridge or anything. Looking at his lips that seem to have the perfect shade of pale red. Looking at his strong jaw line and his high cheek bones that when, he begins speaking hollow dents form on the sides of his cheeks. And his…complexion. _Perfect _complexion. The skin of a baby…of so she thinks. One day, she'd just like to poke his face, to see how it feels. Does he even shave? She notices no stubble on his chin.

This scares Max, however. Not the fact of him probably not shaving, ignore that. The fact that he seems like….._agh! _Understand?

She steps back, now forgetting whatever it was she was previously thinking of.

"Lemme ask you something." He says,

"When do _you _get to have fun? Huh? When do _you_ get to be happy?" He asks all this with concern in his face. He licks his lips,

"Max…he's taking all your happiness away from you- no, he took it away _years_ ago….he's hurting you…in every way possible….don't you see that?"

"I know! I know…it's just…where will I end up huh?" She begins pacing, holding on a look of worry to her face.

"My family can help you. If you'd just let us. They like you. Don't you remember that time when you were eight and my mom had to babysit you?"

"What-" She laughs, now remembering and realizing what a pain she was that day to Fang's mom.

"…You think they're just gonna take me in to live with you guys? Is that it? It's _not _that easy".

"I know….buuuut, I'm willing to take risks if you are?" He looks at her, wishing she'd just let him help her. He's been watching the same thing happen to her since she was only four years old. Thirteen years…and he's done nothing. He _has _to do something this time. Well, he doesn't _have _to. He's not obligated to. But, he _wants_ to. He wants to help. He wants to help her. He wants to help Max. That's all. Like he said, is it such a crime? To want to help somebody?

"I don't know" is what Max replies with.

Fang sighs out, growing a little impatient and annoyed with the same answer every time, _I don't know_, is all she says.

"Well-" He slips his hands inside his pockets, "Can I at least walk with you?" He asks anxiously.

"Um. I guess. But I still don't like you" She says. Fang rolls his eyes and approaches her again.

"I know. I won't worry about it though, that'll soon quickly change" He grins.

"In your dreams" She comebacks.

"You wanna know what I think?" He goes up in her face for a second before backing away, making her wide eyed. She shakes her head.

"I think thaaaat….you don't really hate me".

"Call me Miss Anthropic" She jokes, making him smirk.

"You didn't seem to hate Iggy" He says.

"I'm not really misanthropic. I don't _hate _people, it's just…I guess I've lost my trust of others through…." Her voice trails off and she doesn't finish her sentence. However, Fang knows exactly where she was headed to. Through her 'father'. He's the one who has caused Max to be like this. To be judging and scornful towards others, even if she actually doesn't know them personally.

"You're one of those people who…judge books by their covers, huh?" He asks, counting the line cracks on the sidewalk.

Max shrugs, "I guess".

"That's why you, ahem, assumed I was gay….?"

Max laughs at this, "Not to be rude or anything!" Max exclaims.

"What am I dressed like a ballerina or something? I swear this morning I grabbed jeans and a t-shirt to wear to school today." He says.

Max looks from her view of the street down to Fang's clothes.

"Hmmm" She thinks, analyzing his outfit,

"Can you breathe in those pants? Do you know your 'manhood' could suffer later on because of the tightness of your jeans?" She asks.

Fang rolls his eyes, "I know and…guess what?" He kicks a random empty bottle and moves his tongue to the side of his cheek, making a lump appear.

"-Idoncare" He replies rather quickly. Max rolls her eyes at his childish gesture.

"What about you?" He asks, looking at her outfit. Max looks down at what she's wearing. "Nice" He mutters as she sticks her tongue out at him.

"When's your stop?" She asks, fixing her hair that gets blown all over the place by the harsh wind.

Fang gives her a weird look, "Your place, duh" He replies.

Max gives herself a face palm, remembering that they are next door neighbors.

"Okay, sooo….." Max says now that they've finally reached the corner of her house.

"We still have that project to work on. Don't forget" He says.

"Right. How could I?" She asks, spinning on one heel and turning to walk up to her driveway. She notices something, however.

"My dad's not home yet" She mutters to herself. Fang hears her.

"Well, that's good right?" He asks.

Max nods, jogging up to her house, first checking her mailbox and then after finding nothing, runs to the door, trying to open it.

"You need a key" Fang mutters, right behind her.

She turns her head over her shoulder, "I know, Sherlock" She mutters back.

"Problem is...I don't have one" She adds, squinting slightly from the sun while turning back around to look at Fang.

Fang looks over to his house and Max already knows what he's gonna say,

"You could come to my house" He offers.

"That would be…awkward." She states.

Fang smirks, "beats waiting around here".

"Uhhhh-" She thinks, "-okay, I guess. I'll go." She says, wary of his intentions.

They walk up to his front garden, "I see your garden's fixed" She says, remembering that day both she and he had a playful mud fight; also remembering the consequences of it. He nods, unlocking the door with his spare key he keeps in his wallet. Max looks to his driveway and sees no cars. Fang's parents must not be home yet either. They must all still be at work or something.

"You comin'?"

"Yeah, I'm just…"

Fang rolls his eyes, realizing what's going on.

"Relax, just because we're alone doesn't mean I'm gonna try something on you" He says to reassure her.

Max nods, "I know, I was just…" She looks around.

"Hm?" He replies from the kitchen, drinking some Sprite from a can.

Max shakes her head, "nothing".

He aims for the white trash bin, throwing the can.

"I'm gonna be upstairs in my room. You can wait here or…wherever" He says, walking up the stairs.

"What are you gonna do?" Max asks, intently.

He shrugs from above, already on the second floor.

"Homework. Call Igs. I dunno."

"Well, can I come?" She asks, looking up at him.

"Suuureee" he says, letting his words just slur out very slowly.

...

"Oh, I just thought of something, since we're both here we might as well work on our project, right?" He asks and then flops himself onto his bed, hugging his pillow to his chest and resting his chin on it.

"No" Max says, not really paying attention though; she's looking everywhere in his room.

"No?" Fang raises his eyebrow.

"Can I tell you something?" Max asks.

Fang shrugs, "If you want" He adds.

Max grabs his desk chair and sits on it, "Um, I've never slept with anyone" She says. This causes Fang to frown in confusion.

"But, your dad…?" He trails off.

Max nods, "Right. Uh, he's just trying to scare me. He hasn't actually…you know" She says, now blushing a bit.

"Oh" Is all Fang can say in return, "And?" He adds.

"I've come to the point that….I really don't care…who it is, I, you know…have my first time with…as long as it's _not _my father" She lets out, looking away from him afterwards and to a random shirt thrown on the floor.

Fang frowns, in deep concentration. He must be thinking of something she implied.

"I don't…I don't think that's right Max" is what he replies with.

Max shrugs, "Maybe. Maybe not. But…."

"But what?" Fang asks.

"Sooner or later, I know it's gonna happen. He's a lot stronger than I am."

"You mean…physique-wise?"

"Yeah", she nods.

"Why are you telling me this? I mean, I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that. I mean, I thought you didn't like talking to anyone about your personal life." He says.

"It's just wrong! It's _wrong_ Fang!" She exclaims.

Fang frowns, "Okay, you lost me…what's _wrong_?" He asks curiously.

"That my _father_ wants to do this to me!"

"I know it's wrong, but you said you didn't want any help".

"So you're not gonna help?" She asks, raising her voice slightly.

Fang gets off his lying position and now sits.

"I-I don't get you…you expressed how clearly you didn't want my help".

"I know, I know! But still….if there's something anyone can do…."

Fang groans and now sits up closer to her, "So now you do want help? I can…whatever it is. I do wanna help" He says, looking at her.

Max bites her lip, "Can you….uhmm…can you-"

"Can I what?" He asks patiently.

"Do me a favor?" She looks him in the eye and he returns her stare.

"Sure"

"_Sleep with me"_

Fang literally freezes. He says nothing of this, he is just shocked and his face certainly shows it.

"Look I told you, I don't care who it is anymore. I just don't want my father having the pleasure of being first! I know it wounds waaay weird, but it sickens me! It's disgusting…." She grimaces slightly at the thought of her dad.

Fang clears his throat, "I'm sorry Max" He says.

Max looks over to him, knowing why he apologized.

"I…I can't" He says.

"Sure you can" She says, "You're a guy, aren't you?"

Fang stands up, now pacing back and forth, in deep thought. He feels somewhat insulted at what Max just said about him being a guy. Just because he's a guy doesn't mean he'll want to sleep with any random girl. Not that Max is random, because she's not. It's just that _feelings _are not there. If they were to sleep together, it would have no meaning. It would be plain. It would be bland.

_It would be nothing._

"What's the big deal?" She asks, crossing her arms and frowning to him as he still paces.

"I told you I can't. Sorry" He says.

Max stands up from the chair, "wh-why not? I'm sure you have plenty of experience in this anyways!" She yells.

Fang stops in his tracks and turns to her.

"No. I don't" He says, now sitting back down and sighing.

Max's jaw practically drops to the ground and somehow, she doesn't believe him.

"I get it." She says after an awkward silence, "You just don't want to. You think I'm sleazy" She looks down in hurt, afraid of his reaction.

Fang takes his face out of his palms and looks back at her,

"No" He says.

"Max, I don't" He adds, considering he doesn't reply.

"Well that's awesome-" She says, sarcastically.

"Because I'm not-" She grabs her bag from the floor and begins to head over to the door as Fang watches her.

"And you're right, Fang. I don't need this. I don't need some stupid insensitive jerk like you any closer to me" She says, opening the door.

Fang sighs out, feeling like he has no choice.

"No wait!" He blurts out, catching the glint in her eye. He hopes Max is not about to cry.

"Fine." Fang says, agreeing to her proposition.

Max stops, totally frozen. Fang groans out, throwing his head back. He walks up to her, grabbing her gently by the wrist, pulling her closer to him. She follows and he leads them to his bed, placing her on the mattress as he climbs up on top, now both legs on either side of her hips.

"Uhmm" He mutters very quietly and nervously, of course.

He stays frozen, however. Not moving any part of his body, not even looking at her. His gaze falls to the bedding, in deep thought.

"Max" He states.

She looks at him from her lying position.

"Please, don't make me do this. I feel like if I do, then it'll mean nothing. But if I don't, you'll just go back to hating and insulting me" He says, looking her in the eye.

"I understand Fang. But let me ask you this-" She says. He nods, aware.

"If I mean nothing…to you…then why help me? Why go through all this trouble? You've been doing the same thing for the past thirteen years, as you've said yourself… so what's so different about it now? Can't you just go back to ignoring me?"

He looks away from her and his gaze once again, falls to the black bedding of the mattress.

"No, I can't do that. And I never said you meant nothing to me. This just…it's _not _the answer."

"Fine." She gets up, pushing him off her and heading to the door.

"Where are you going?" He follows after her, jogging down the stairs.

"I have a call to make"

"Who?"

"It doesn't concern you"

"Whatever" He shrugs, sitting on the stairs and watching as she walks out to his patio, shutting the glass door so he won't be able to hear anything she says over the phone.

….

10 minutes later

_Ding dong _

Fang stands up, headed for the door as Max follows him.

"That must be my parents" He opens the door, but only to find a guy, his age, who's obviously neither his mom nor dad.

The guy leans against Fang's door frame and gives his a mischievous grin, wearing some heavy black shades, his hair is dark brown with some natural highlights in it and combed back. He smiles at Fang once again.

"Can I help you?" Fang asks.

"Sure" The guy says, shoving Fang off to a side and entering his house.

"What the hell? Who are you?" Fang asks, getting pissed that he just shoved him as if he were a nothing.

"Hey dude, just came here to pick up my girlfriend"

"Girlfriend?" Fang asks, raising an eyebrow,

"I think you have the wrong house, so just ge-"

"No, he's right. Hey Steven" Max's voice comes out of nowhere. Fang turns to her.

"You have a boyfriend? I thought you weren't allowed to?" Fang asks, confused now.

"Naww dude, she's ain't really my girlfriend, we're just gonna get our groove on".

"_Groove?_" _Who says that anymore? _Fang thinks.

"No, she's not going anywhere with you" Fang says.

The guy laughs, "Excuse me? She _is_" He says.

"No. This is my house, so just leave. Now" Fang says.

"Alright, tell you what. How 'bout we have a little one-on-one and whoever wins, gets the girl?" He asks.

"That's ridiculous, just get out" Fang heads to the door and opens it, waiting impatiently.

The guy starts making chicken noises towards Fang.

"Dude. Leave. Now" Fang grinds out.

"Scared I'll win? Scared you'll lose? Or do you not wanna fight, because you're gay, dude? I mean-" He laughs, pointing to Fang's pants,

"-_dude_, those are the tightest pants I've ever seen on a guy!"

Fang rubs his temples, trying to calm himself down as he's one _very _pissed off Fang right now.

"I'm asking nicely. Leave, now" Fang motions to the door.

"Aw c'mon man, this'll be fun….c'mon, fight me" Both him and Max stare over at Fang, while he just stands there, glaring at him.

"Oh, I see! You must be gay then. Is that why-" He looks over to Max,

"-you didn't want to get her laid?" He points to Max.

"I mean dude, do you not notice that bust? And look at that nice ass" He says, making Max feel very uncomfortable now.

Fang closes the door and locks it.

"Alright, I'll fight you" He complies.

"But you're still not touching her afterwards" Fang says sternly.

The guy shrugs, "Cool, whatev man, I can get any girl I want anyways."

Fang stands there and waits for the guy to charge at him.

Fortunately for Fang, the guy does charge and Fang waits for him. Max stares at him in confusion.

Fang rolls his eyes, smirking and opening the door, stepping out of the guy's way.

"Whoah!" the guy blurts out, falling out the door and onto the front patio like some total idiot. Fang closes the door and locks it.

"People are so stupid" He mutters, shaking his head in amusement.

"I can't believe you did that" Fang says as he turns to Max.

"What? You didn't want to…I needed someone!"

"You can't sleep around with any random guy, I'll help you, okay?" He asks, eyebrows furrowed in worry.

"I don't know, Fang. This isn't just something that can be solved overnight"

"I know. And it won't be. But, what's so wrong in wanting to help you?"

Max sits on the staircase and takes a deep breathe. Fang can tell she's gonna explain a lot this time.

"Two years ago, I had my first boyfriend, we loved each other. Well, at least that's what I thought. Until I found him cheating on me…but I didn't…I _didn't_ care…I just didn't. Few days later, I-…he was reported dead…got run over…by my father." She sniffles, feeling teary eyed over the emotion.

"Maybe, just maybe…he's just punishing me…after all, he blames me…for killing my mother….maybe it's just that…_punishment_" She looks at her shoes, trying to avoid Fang's gaze.

"I-I didn't know that, I'm sorry to hear that Max. I really am. But I do know this-" Max looks over to him, paying close attention to what he's about to say.

"Seeing you. Seeing him, everyday. Seeing those scars and bruises on your body. How you try so hard in hiding them. How you keep away from the rest of the world….it literally, _kills me_".

…

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.

**PLEASE REVIEW! :) **

If you're a bit confused, I'll explain some things a bit. Yup, Max's dad started physically and mentally beating her since she was 4. Fang knew of this, but decided to say nothing. Of course, when he was 4, he didn't know any better. He just thought Max and her father were bonding or something. When Fang turned 13, he really started understanding what her father does to her and how he makes her feel. All he's been doing is…watching. He's been keeping his mouth shut. So now, that's why he decides to tell his parents.

Yup, Max is very mean towards others, especially if they try to get up in her business. That's why, she's so mean to Fang and he slightly doesn't like her because of it. Slowly, that'll change though as they become better friends and get to know each other allot better.

Thirdly, if you're like " O.o " as to why Fang keeps insisting he 'helps' Max and why it seems as if he cares so much is because….(well, I'm not gonna tell you. You'll find out in later chapters). Or you probably already know. Hence, the little clues thrown everywhere throughout this story in each chapter.

Lastly, YES, Fang's parents are stupid. It's not that they don't care of whatever happens to Max or that they don't want to listen to their teenage son, Fang, because he simply feels like a burden to them. It's that…they have been neighbors with the Rides (Max and her father) for thirteen years. They just don't want to imagine the worst. They, in a superficial manner, somewhat _trust _this man-Max's father. They just don't want to make the worst of things. Fang's parents and Max's dad have actually been good friends ever since Max and her dad moved in the neighborhood. Throughout the years, Fang's parents have been growing a bit distant-or should I say Max's dad, the one who has been growing distant from Fang's parents. They still feel like they trust him a certain degree. But Fang's parents don't see her dad's true intentions, on the inside. They only see the face of the man who puts on a façade, and that's why they don't notice. Not because they don't care or are bad parents. But because, they are ignorant.

One more thing. I know I said the above paragraph would be the last but eh! ^^ Okay.

Oh never mind, I really forgot what I was going to type next T^T I'm watching Adventure Time, so I got side-tracked and forgot. Oops T^T

Anyways, please review! :) Thank you for all the previous reviews! :)

YAY, guess what? I remembered what I was going to type before the above! :D I was going to write about that random guy Max invited over. They actually used to know each other, they used to go to the same school. Max hasn't always gone to the same school as Fang so that's why Fang didn't know who this random guy was. Well, Max did know him; he was the average player who went for all the supposed, 'hot' girls sooooo….yup.

Oh, and yes…if you can't already tell, Fang has anger issues/gets pissed easily and he tries to control it by- well, by not trying to get angry, duh ^^ :) :D ^_^ :D XD :p ^^

I hope you liked this chapter, tell me what you think :) Oh, and I'd prefer if you don't evaluate this story and the time of the events occurring by the chapter counts, but instead by how many pages there are. Do you get what I'm trying to say? For instance, I know there's only 5 chapters so far and the story is already progressing kind of fast (I hope not though, I really intended this to be a slow paced story. Actually, do you think this story is progressing fast or slow? I'd appreciate it if you told me in your comments :) ). Each chapter has, I think, an averaged total of like 10 pages (that's my goal for each chapter, but sometimes it could be 9 ½ half or just 9; somewhere near 10) so if this is chapter 5, then I'll assume we'd be on page 50 by now and a lot could happen in the first 50 pages of a story. Sooo…that's why I'm kinda stuck if whether or not this story is going to fast or too slow?

Btw, if you're wondering why I keep centering the beginning of each chapter, it's because I want it to look like a Christmas Tree :D Teehee^^

**(Yup, I deleted the rest...hehe)**

**Only because I just remembered something more important. I'm currently writing a new MR fanfic, but I don't know if I should post it up yet. **

**I'm not sure when I'll post it up but maybe after Neverending Things ends. I'm not sure how much more chapters Neverending Things will have, but maybe 5 or less?**

**Then, Just Watch...well, it obviously won't be as long as NT. Maybe this story will have less than 20 chapters, not sure yet. But I feel like there's not much to deal with in this fanfic as **

**there is in NT. In this one, once Max's dad gets caught and it's all out in the open, it's literally...done, no more chapters. Maybe we're headed close to the end of this story soon...who **

**knows...? Yeah, it'd be a short story doing so, but like I said...not much to deal with.**

**Thank you for your previous reviews! :)**

**On second thought, maybe I'll go ahead and post up the new fanfic soon, along with a new chapter of NT. I'm still NOT finished with the chapter of NT though! lol I don't know why it's taking me so long! There are two major scenes in the new chapter and I've written all scene 1, so now scene 2. I'm probably gonna have to watch a depressing movie or something because well, the scene requires it, if I must write an emotional material for the next chapter of NT. (sorry if I totally lost you lol)I haven't written a new chapter of this one yet, so I think it'll be a while.**

**I'm not talking MONTHS though! lol that would be too long and precisely long enough for you to assume I were dead.**

**Seriously though...if months pass and I'm not updating either stories,**

**you know what to do...**


	6. Somewhere Along the Road

Hello! Okay, I know I have some explaining to do. I've been gone for all these months and no update! Ugh. Okay, the truth is that I've been gone on a long spiritual journey to find myself. I've been lost lately. Anyways, enough of me, here's the story! And I really hope you guys are NOT like crazy maaad :[

I'm really sorry you guys.

**Just Watch**

**Chapter 6**

Somewhere Along the Road

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..

.

_Today's a really nice day. I wish we could all go have a picnic or something but Herald's always busy working and Fang always stuffed in his room, he never comes out! _Fang's mom thinks as she shakes her head, dusting off the TV screen.

Suddenly, a noise.

_Ding dong_

She stops, placing the duster on the counter and walks up to the front door, looks through the peeking hole very quickly and then opens the door.

"Max?" She asks, confused as to what she would want.

Max smiles lightly, "Um hi. I just wanted to ask Fang is he, well uh-wants to walk to school with me today. Is it okay?" Max asks, biting her lip, her hands behind her back.

Fang mom looks around, making sure the house is all tidied up and clean then back at Max, "Of course, Max. Please, come in"

Max nods, "Thanks a lot" She smiles, stepping foot inside the house.

Fang's mom, Sydney, walks up to the start of the stairs, "Fang! Wake up sweetie! You've got a visitor!" She shouts, and then looks back at Max.

"Give him like 10 minutes, he'll be ready. Are you hungry?" She asks.

"Oh, noo, thank you anyways" Max says quietly.

Sydney smiles, taking in that Max is quite indeed a bit shy just like her own son, Fang.

"So, now that you're here, mind if I ask how's school going for you?" Sydney questions, smiling.

"Oh, it's fine. Um, normal ya know?"

"No, I would-" She laughs, "I haven't been to school in a long time sweetie"

"Oh. Right" Max mutters.

"Please, sit. Make yourself at home. Fang will be right down. I'll just continue doing the laundry. Oh, and feel free to just barge into Fang's room and open up his curtains.-" She laughs, "I swear, he's like a vampire. He's been pretty tired lately. You can go upstairs and wake him if he doesn't come down soon." Sydney walks out the breakfast room and disappears down a hallway leading to the laundry room.

Max sits down on the couch and waits patiently, looking all around. Although she already been here before, she still isn't really familiar with Fang's house.

…

His mom walks back into the living room with a white plastic hamper full of dirty clothes. She sees Max still waiting there, but now instead of sitting there, hands gently on her lap; she's leaned against the couch pillow and slouching a bit.

"He still hasn't come down yet? I thought for sure he would" She sets the hamper down.

"What time is it?-" She gasps, "7:28, and he still hasn't woken, unbelievable!" She starts to walk up the stairs when suddenly a chiming noise is heard.

"The phone, I'll get it!" She quickly runs back down the steps and rushes to the phone. She grabs it off the counter and places it on her chest to void out what she's about to say, "Max, can you please go wake Fang. He's so lazy! I have to take this call"

Max nods and begins to walk upstairs. When she gets to the top, she notices quite a number of doors. _He has a big house _she thinks. She remembers on of them led to Fang's room but she can't remember which. She looks at all four doors and knocks on the closest one first.

"Hello?" She places her ear on the door after a while, "Fang?" She asks.

"_Thank you Mrs. Cleveland, I will don't worry!" _Max hears Fang's mom' make her way up the steps,

"Did he get up?"

"Um I don't know which door…" Max says.

"Oh, the third one honey, c'mere"

Both girls walk down the hallway to the door leading to Fang's bedroom.

Meanwhile…

It's a hot, hot room.

All he can make out is that both he and a girl are clad in their birthday suit.

That's what he feels at least, since he keeps his eyes closed shut.

But he hears small moans…of ecstasy.

Then he suddenly recognizes the voice…Max.

They both keep gasping as he lay on top of her, his head in the crook of her neck.

He keeps moving. The cause of her pleasure…

…

A sweaty and hot red Fang wakes up abruptly as his body rapidly comes forth just like that. He feels something suddenly, under his comforters. He knows what's going on.

Fang retrieves his thin black covers from his legs and sees a huge bulge protruding from within his boxers.

Then, a door…

"Fang, sweetie! You were supposed to be awa-" His mother suddenly stops herself, in shock, noticing Fang's problem. He gasps as soon as he sees her, not expecting for anyone to just barge into his room without knocking first.

But Fang however does not make an action whatsoever. He stays there, just as shocked as both his mother…and Max.

Yes, Max. He can't believe Max is here, that's even worse than his mother! He can't believe it, oh the embarrassment as Max's wide eyes stare at the bulge inside Fang's boxers. Oh yeah, and another thing-not to mention she's seeing him in his boxers!

Within a millisecond Fang's face turns even redder and he finally has the willpower to do something-he grabs his pillow and throws it towards both Max and his mom, whilst yelling the words, "Out!" He is clearly pissed. But most of all, embarrassed.

Both women leave the room in haste, bumping into each other a little as they dodge Fang's pillow and head out in a hurried manner.

Fang sulks back onto his bed, now lying on his back. His long bangs fall onto his face, covering his eyes.

He sighs out heavily, "Crap".

Minutes after the small incident, Fang decides to get up and get ready for school. He gets out of the shower and drops his towel, leaving him in bare skin as he grabs his boxers and the rest of his clothes.

"It's getting pretty late. Maybe I should just leave. School's gonna start soon" Max says.

The woman nods, "Yes, I think you should. Don't wait for Fang; he'll take forever to come down here"

Max nods, "Thank you though, for letting me in"

"Oh no problem! Bye" She smiles sweetly at Max as she leaves through the doorway. She watches until Max takes a turn around a corner to where she can't see her anymore and then she closes the door fully.

_Minutes later_

Fang runs downstairs, all dressed and ready for school.

"Bye sweetie!" Fang's mom smiles at him, turning her head from the living room couch. Fang however, turns the other way not wanting to make contact with her, feeling a little embarrassed. He does however, give her a very slight smile as he exits the front door.

He leaves his house, not even locking it-not because he knows his mom is there and she can easily lock it herself but because he doesn't care for now due to the fact that he's to eager to meet up with Max. Just like a little boy who's eager to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what he wants for Christmas.

Within a few seconds of running out through his own front yard he catches sight of the very familiar light brown wavy hair.

"Max" He says, but she doesn't hear him. "Max, wait!" He calls out louder this time, catching up to her.

She hears him and turns around, giving him a little smile as she turns around to stop and wait for him.

"Hi" She says.

"Hello-" He says, still a bit flustered about the little scenario that just occurred about thirty minutes ago.

Fang says nothing more, not knowing what else to say. Oh wait, he does however, remember one thing-why she came over his house-and at like 7 in the morning? A little early. But Max however, speaks before he has a chance to ask.

"Um, sorry about…you know, barging into your room like that" She says.

Fang blinks, frozen a bit as he drops his guard and a tint of red creeps up his cheeks. He looks away from her eyes.

"Didn't know your were uh, busy but I ju-"

"Busy?" Fang asks all of a sudden, cutting her off. He wonders what she means by this. What could he have possibly been doing at 7 in the morning? Nothing but sleeping that's for sure.

"Yeah uh…" This time now Max is the one to blush. Suddenly, Fang pays close attention to the look on her face and he knows what she's thinking. His eyes turn slightly wide.

"N-n-nooo….y-you don't understand. I was not doing _that_" He says, suddenly getting tense.

Max opens her mouth to say something but the thought escapes her lips. Instead, she just clears her throat.

As they begin walking, Fang decides to ask what he wanted to ask her before.

"So um, you needed me?" He asks her, still avoiding her gaze however.

Max nods, looking at the sidewalk-her gaze not leaving, as if mesmerized.

"Yeah, I just wanted to know if you wanted to walk with me to school today."

Now this certainly catches Fang's attention. He wonders why she would want to be so open towards him now.

He raises an eyebrow and she sees the questioning look on his face.

"My dad never came home last night. I just thought it'd be…I dunno…._nice_…to walk with you…" She finally finishes off.

"Since he's not here, watching my every move…." She adds.

Fang nods and gives her a little smile, not a smirk, but a small genuine smile. Something she needs to get used to.

"Sure" He nods towards her, forgetting the tension about the previous occurrences.

"We can walk together. Let's do it." He says, trying not to sound as happy as he really is on the inside. Aw.

Much to his surprise, Max giggles a little, catching him off guard. He gives her a questioning look

"We _are _walking together, Fang" Max states between small chuckles.

Fang turns his vision back to the road instead of Max's face and notices that they are indeed, walking together.

"Right. I uh-yeah, that's what I meant to say" He mutters, hands stuffed in pockets.

"You have your paper right? Did you finish it?" Fang asks all of a sudden, turning to her.

Max starts to nod but stops herself, "Oh…wait a sec, I have to check. Hold on" She says as she kneels down on the sidewalk and starts searching in her bag.

While Fang waits patiently for her to find it, he dozes off thinking that although it is indeed nice to walk with Max-for them to bond, he still can't help but question why her father never came back home last night.

"Ugh, this is so boring!" She complains, throwing her arms around, tired from reviewing her algebra II book. Fang picks it up as she walks past it, not even caring that she dropped it. He hands it to her.

"Walking with me? Yeah, the most boring thing ever, that's why Iggy takes the bus now"

Max rolls her eyes, knowing that Fang was joking though and that she was not talking about him, but about studying.

As bored as Max really is however, she is happy that Fang decided to not ask her about her 'situation' again.

They keep walking in a long peaceful silence till they reach their school's block.

….

…..

…

….

..

.

It is 12:47 AM and both Max and Fang are taking their Algebra II exams.

Fang, of course, always has a seat assigned behind Max's. He finds it funny that he's always assigned behind Max, never in front of her where _she_ can see _him_. Instead vice versa.

He runs a hand through his hair and impatiently taps his mechanical pencil on his desk as he tries to figure out how to solve the same problem he's been trying to solve for the past 15 minutes.

He knows he should either skip over it or just guess and get back to it but, he just doesn't feel like it. He's not into the test. Right now, he may be looking at his almost clear exam paper but his mind is off, somewhere else. He lifts his head and looks up at the chalkboard, reading the formulas as hints that the teacher left up on the board for everyone to see. His gaze however, quickly falls onto something else as the corner of his eye sees something bothersome. His eyes slip down to the back of Max. He sees her in the same position as he is: totally clueless. She tilts her head a little and squints her eyes, looking down at the exam. As she does so, a small strand of hair falls onto her face and she lifts a hand, placing it behind her ear and then idly begins chewing her pencil. She now crosses her legs. But Fang knows this is something he can't look at-those beautiful long slender legs. He can't help it; he's a 17 year old boy.

Suddenly, he sees something on her calf-a long scratch.

And it's red.

It's fresh.

He just hates it that he can't tell anybody about this. He hates it that she gets physically abused everyday. He knows it must be _hell _for her.

But what's also bothersome is that no one else ever notices these scars, bruises, or cuts on her body. As if they're ignorant. They're all ignorant.

He wonders, if anyone has ever asked her about them before and that what if he is wrong, someone _has _noticed. And he also wonders if anyone has noticed then what type of things they have assumed. Did they think this was some sort of self-mutilation?

The quick thought enters his mind, what if Max does this to herself? What if her father never hit her?

**Bull.**

That's obviously a lie. He's _seen _it with his own eyes. He's seen her get hit. He's even seen her get burned by a fresh pot of hot coffee. He remembers it seeping in through her blouse, making contact with her bare chest. He can more than imagine the pain. He's sure he feels it. And he surely doesn't know what it is, but he feels her. Really _feels _her.

"Ahem" Max clears her throat, not looking at him though since she in front of him but still catching him off guard as he wakes from his heavy thinking.

His eyes avert from the cut on her calf and he looks up at her. Thank God she didn't catch him staring.

"10 minutes!" The teacher shouts casually over her desk as she finishes grading other papers.

...

...

..

"You sure you okay? You seem a little off today, man" Iggy says, glancing over at Fang from his laptop. Both are in Fang's room, just hanging out like normal dudes would.

Fang looks up from his lying position on his bed to Iggy, sitting on his desk chair.

"Yeah. Just fine" He replies.

Iggy frowns, "C'mon man, tell me. I wanna know!" Iggy beams. Fang rolls his eyes, "You're starting to sound like Nudge"

Iggy grins. "Well, I won't stop bothering you until you tell me. We've known each other for years; don't you think I know when something's buggin' you?" Iggy asks, worried.

Fang looks up once more.

"Fine. Promise you won't tell anyone?"

Iggy grins at this and nods.

"_Anyone?" _Fang repeats, adding emphasis. Iggy nods once more.

"Just some creepy dream" Fang says, slouching back on the bed. His hands resting on his stomach.

"Dream? What kinda dream?..." Iggy's voice trails off as he searches for clues in Fang's given face expression. Even though there is no expression.

"Iggy, there's this thing. It's called personal space!" Fang shouts, somewhat annoyed at Iggy who keeps inching towards Fang. In a way, he reminds Fang of some cheerleader wanting to hear the latest gossip on other girls.

Iggy frowns, "But dude, tell meeeee" He says pleading, backing away with the rolling chair to get some Doritos chips on Fang's desk-he puts a handful into his mouth.

"I really don't wanna talk about it" Fang mutters.

"mmphgjk" Iggy mumbles while the chips are still in his mouth.

Fang rolls his eyes, "Swallow first" Fang comments, getting ready to grab his iPod from his nightstand when suddenly Iggy shuts the drawer to prevent Fang from doing so.

"'Kay I'm finished. Now speak dude" He pokes Fang's leg hard.

Fang breathes out, annoying Iggy.

"Look man, you said it was a dream…now I ask what kind of dream?" He asks Fang with wonder.

Fang's gaze falls down to his bedding as he idly feels the softness of the sheets. But Iggy soon notices Fang getting all flustered and a huge grin suddenly creeps up Iggy's face.

"Was it a…." Iggy trails off, "wet dream?" He asks, giving Fang an innocent look but at the same time the devil is present in his eyes.

Fang rolls his eyes.

Iggy bursts out laughing. "You gotta tell me all about it man!" He slaps Fang's shoulder playfully.

"Was there a girl involved?"

Fang sighs out as his thoughts incline towards Max. Max. Max. Max. Max.

"Yeah"

Iggy chuckles, "Who? Tell me"

"You swore you wouldn't tell anyone, Iggy" Fang threatens.

Iggy nods, "Dude, I'm not gonna tell anyone. Just tell me!" He reassures.

"Who's the girl I've been hanging out with a lot lately?" Fang asks. Iggy's eyes widen as realization kicks in.

"Omg!-" Iggy states hysterically, laughing at himself for using such a girly term.

"Max? Max! Are you effin' serious?" Iggy exclaims. Fang nods.

"Dude, you knooow what this means" Iggy says, all calm now but still grinning. Fang shrugs. "No. What?" He asks, cluelessly.

"You're sooo into her! Admit it, you wanna make loooove to her!" Iggy chuckles, backing away with the chair, knowing that Fang is gonna punch him. Lucky for him, Fang is too lazy to move and just throws him a glare.

"Lies" Fang mutters. "And stop adding extra letters to every word"

Iggy starts to giggle uncontrollably, "Dude! Yes you do! Why else would you have that dream? I mean think about it. Before you really even started talking to Max, you haven't been interested in any other girl. At all."

"That's not true." Fang protests.

"Oh what-Lucy from fifth grade doesn't count" Iggy says.

"Iggy, I've _had _girlfriends before" Fang states.

"I know that. But the way you look at Max, I mean DAMN!" Iggy states loudly with humor in his voice.

"Look Igs, I don't like Max that way. We're friends. Period. And a couple days ago, I didn't even like her as a human"

"Oh c'mon dude, it's just us two. Be truthful for once" Iggy says seriously.

"I am. Look, we should just drop this"

"Okay, then you know what?"

"What?" Fang asks, an eyebrow raised.

"Maybe you say you don't like her like that because you're not aware of it. But maybe somewhere in your heart, you do have some feelings for her that you aren't totally aware about" Iggy says, casually eating some chips now.

Fang blinks at his comment, "Wow. And I thought I was the deep one." He says.

"Just tell me-man to man-how did it feel?" Iggy asks.

"What feel?"

"Did you guys do it in your dream?"

"Yeah" Fang states dryly.

"So how did it feel? Did you like it? Did you…I dunno…think it was real or did you know if it was just you dreaming-excuse me, _wet _dreaming" Iggy snorts, about to explode into laughter. Fang rolls his eyes.

"It sure _felt _real. And yeah, I guess I liked it-but I kinda didn't. I kept my eyes closed the whole time."

Iggy spits out the new Doritos chip he just put into his mouth a second ago. It lands onto Fang's rug to which Fang sends him a look saying _you better clean that_.

"Dude!" Iggy exclaims with wide eyes. "What an insult! You can't just have sex with a girl while keeping your eyes closed! She'll want you to keep eye contact with her or stare at that amazing body! Not to sound like a pervert or anything…"

Fang smirks a little from Iggy's comment. Iggy's been obsessed with the bodies of girls ever since Fang knew him-such an early age. That's not to say Iggy's not a sweet and polite young man though.

"You know what I think dude?" Iggy asks. Fang looks up at him.

"I think you have Genophobia!" He exclaims, now browsing the web through Fang's sleek laptop.

"Huh? What's that?" Fang asks, curiously. He gets off his bed and walks over to Iggy.

"The fear of sexual intercourse" Iggy whispers to Fang, eyes wide as he reads the screen.

"Uh" Fang mutters as he stands still behind Iggy. "That's crap, Igs" He says.

Iggy turns away from the laptop and to Fang, "It is notdude! I can't believe it…my own best friend…afraid of what every virgin boy ever dreams of…_getting laid" _Iggy frowns at this.

"Dude, you're almost 20! You can't have Genophobia! You can't be a 20 year old virgin dude! That's embarrassing! All the dudes will make fun of you!"

"Iggy, I'm not almost 20. I'm 17. And I don't have this gen-whatever phobe"

"It's phobia…Geno-phobia, get it right."

"Whatever" Fang mutters, exhaling loudly.

"I mean, Max certainly doesn't look like the disgusting type for you to cover your eyes" Iggy mutters to himself, his eyes big and bright. Fang hears him and throws him a sudden glare.

"No, I didn't say that. She's a very…..unique person" Fang says.

Iggy scoffs, "As if that narrows it down. She stunning, dude. And you gotta get her before anyone else does" Iggy states jokingly.

This however, does not make Fang laugh or even smile the slightest bit. Iggy's comment is actually very true. Max's so-called 'father'wants to rape her. But Fang doesn't want that to happen. This leads Fang to re-think that favor Max asked of him about a week ago.

But Fang just wishes he could get to know her a little bit better.

To him, she's still a blurry cloud among many.

...

…

…

…

…

…

..

.

"I can't believe we're finally getting to work on our project" Fang states, a happy smile on his face as he types up something on his laptop.

Both he and Max are on school grounds, in the back just casually talking and finishing up their big assignment.

"Yeah" Max says, glancing at his concentrated face. He licks his lips and his brows are furrowed as he keeps excessively clicking.

"Link not working?" Max asks. Fang nods, "Yeah, it can get a little slow at times" He says, still not looking away from his screen.

Max nods, "I'm really bored" She mutters, putting the pencil down and reclines her back so that it is now resting against a tree.

"Almost done?" Fang asks.

"Not quite" Max responds, biting her lip.

"That's fine. I can do it if you're tired." He says and stretches his arm a bit. Max tries not to pay close attention to his muscles however.

"That's nice of you. Thanks" She smiles a bit.

"Aren't you gonna say something like _'oh no, this is a group project, we have to work together on this'_?" Fang asks playfully.

"Well…you offered"

Fang rolls his eyes, "I got it, don't worry." He says, grabbing the packet of stapled papers and shoving it inside his opened up messenger bag.

Max yawns a bit.

"Tired?" Fang's voice pops up out of nowhere after the long silence.

Max looks to him, "Just a little bit."

"You think he made it home?"

"my dad?" She asks, casually glancing at him.

"Yeah" He replies with narrow eyes. He doesn't want to ever refer to this man as a 'father' figure of Max's. A father should never treat their own child like this.

"…maybe. I dunno…maybe." She says, her face suddenly falling into a frown. She closes her eyes and rests her head on the grass.

"Even sleeping here is better than over there" Fang definitely knows what she's referring to as 'there'. And as beautiful as she looks lying there-on the green healthy rich grass with her beautiful long brown shiny hair splayed all over it, like a goddess of nature he still can't help but feel very sorry that she feels sleeping on grass-the dirt, where everyone walks, spits is much more comfortable than sleeping in the comfort of her own cozy bed, warm comforters and pillows as soft as clouds.

"There's a bug on your hair"

"Don't joke with me"

"I'm not. Seriously"

"Fang."

"I'm _not _joking"

With that, Max lifts herself up in a rush, "Ew! That's ugh- Is if off? Did I get it off?" She asks, shaking her hair with a face of worry.

Fang drops his head to the grass, smirking a little, "I dunno. Hard to see invisible things" He shrugs, playing with a piece of grass.

Max glares at him, "Jerk!" She pushes one side of his shoulder, but that hardly does anything to him. He just throws her a smile.

As Max slowly retrieves her hand back, she notices the significance behind his smile. And not just a smile, she immediately notices that it's a smile he's never smiled to her. A side of him she's never seen. A side that he rarely shows anyone. Not even Iggy, his best friend since almost forever.

Max sees his eyes glistening and immediately turns away, a small tint of red developing on her cheeks.

She runs her fingers through her long hair since it got messed up and glances at Fang. She now sees him in a pensive state, thinking very hard as his hands idly dig deep into the grass and dirt.

Fang clears his throat, ending the awkward silence once again.

"C'mon, we should get back home" He says, noticing the school yard is practically empty and it's just them two left.

Max nods and grabs her stuff, getting up and brushing her clothes off.

_About half an hour later_

They both stop, dead in their tracks, noticing a car that has just appeared in Max's driveway. Her father.

Fang turns his head, looking at Max. She returns the look and lets out a small breath.

"Bye" She mutters, walking towards her door, not even looking back at Fang to say bye. As if he's not the first significant thing to her anymore. That's how he sees it anyways. When they're together, just them two, he feels as though he's of some importance to her. That's what she makes him feel anyways. Like it's just them two and no one else. But when it all comes down to her returning back to her abusive life, it's like she blocks him out. Fang. Like she's too afraid or like she suddenly doesn't care for him anymore.

Try to think of it as if you had this one person you've known for a long while and then suddenly that person meets new friends. Problem is-those 'new' friends of your one friend don't like you. So that one friend blocks you out. Eventually forgetting about you.

It's just that small feeling of hurt he gets in his chest every time she does it.

"Fang? Oh good, you're back!" A sudden voice startles him. He turns to see his mom, just watering her plants and smiling at him.

"How was school? Oh, we better get inside and talk about this" She says, putting a hand on his shoulder. For a second, he is confused and not sure what she's referring to.

…

She shuts the door and walks up to him, "I've noticed you're uh…well, both your father and I have noticed that you're spending a lot of time with Max"

"Not really" He starts to walk upstairs to his room.

"Wait, Fang sweetie. Is there something wrong?" She asks in a worried tone.

He looks at her over his shoulder,

"No. Why would there be? Aren't you happy I'm making new friends? It's what you always wanted." He says with a straight face.

"Well, I know. But Max…"

He sighs out deeply, "What?" He snaps, taking her aback.

"Sorry" He mutters very softly.

"You know ever since that incident…." His mom trails off, referring to the day when both Max and Fang were messing around. Very innocently though.

Fang gives out a sudden angry laugh and resumes walking up the steps.

"Fang, now wait!"

"Oh, for the love of-"

"Honey! Fang! Good news!" His dad suddenly comes in through the front door. Both Fang and his mom were too busy arguing to even notice him arrive home from work.

"Yes, Mr. Alexander, I will be sure to call this Thursday afternoon. Goodbye" He hangs up and grins at his family, "Good news!"

She smiles and he kisses her quickly, "Son, come here. Good news, good news!"

"That's what you said last time" Fang mutters, crossing his arms and slightly annoyed at the overused phrase 'good news'.

His mom nudges him lightly in the arm.

"I just got word from Mr. Alex, I will definitely be receiving those different bonuses within the net week. I just gotta sign some papers. He and I are meeting at the bank tomorrow to discuss this deal"

"That's wonderful!" His wife smiles.

"What does that mean?"

"Bigger and better things son. For all of us" He pats Fang's back.

"Well, I have to send an urgent email to the group, so-"

"Dinner will be ready in ten" She replies, reading his mind.

He smiles and walks off into his home office, shutting the doors for quiet.

"Fang. I wasn't finished sweetie" His mom says as she sees him start to go to his room as well.

"Well I was" He stomps off.

"Fang, what's gotten into you?"

"Nothing"

"Tell me, please. Whatever it is" She says softly.

He walks back to her, "It's Max's dad. He just doesn't…treat her right. She's like his, his slave or prisoner!"

She rolls her eyes, "Fa-"

"He abuses her. He takes advantage of her."

"Please, don't start with this again. He's a great man. Max is just…a troublesome kid."

Fang opens his mouth to say something but she continues,

"She's been since she was only a little girl! I should know, I always used to babysit her when her father was busy"

"What do you mean 'troublesome'"? He asks in a curious yet annoyed manner.

"She's… well, rebellious. He's just trying to control her. He doesn't even have his wife with him anymore, it's hard for him. Please understand. Your father and I have been good friends with him since years ago. He's been a friendly neighbor since the day we met."

"That still doesn't explain why he acted so possessive and furious that day. You _saw _the look on his face. He went psychotic."

"Oh, he was probably just having a bad day! We all have them. Besides you're angry all the time, does that make you a bad person?" His mom questions him with raised eyebrows.

"Don't compare me to him. Ever" He snarls at his mother, feeling disgusted that she would make such a comparison. He doesn't hurt the one's he…cares about. Maybe even loves.

She stares at him with wide eyes for a sudden and watches him stomp off up the steps and to the hallway up his room.

…..

…..

…

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_It is currently 3:37 AM…._

Fang hears two very familiar voices. He can't hear exactly what they're saying because their voices are muffled and only hears a few words every few seconds.

"_You know…you should've…..had to!"_

"_I never asked….stupid, stupid, stupid! I don't even….the right to….judge me…"_

"…_started because….idiot, we…..maybe…..too much!"_

"_Shut up!...bed!"_

Then he hears a door slam and the glow coming in from his window suddenly disappears. They've turned off the lights.

Although they've stopped the arguing, he knows the same thing is only gonna happen again tomorrow.

_Morning_

"Oh, it was just a simple misunderstanding. I can assure you…-"

Fang is soon woken up by the chatting going on downstairs. He recognizes the male's voice and knows it's not his dad talking, but instead….

He sits up and stays quiet, stretching his muscles a bit and careful not to move around too much on his bed so he can hear the quiet talking downstairs.

"_Yes, I know. And please don't mind him. He's just…protective, just like his father!" His mom laughs. "He just really likes your daughter, I guess"_

"_Oh, I understand. I understand very clearly. I know how these types of things can end in…misconceptions. But I do know where Fang is coming from. I used to be the same when I was around his age. I lost my mother figure at an early age too just like Max so I was a little the same as her. I just don't want her to end up like…me. I want her to be a successful woman and keep out of trouble."_

"_Oh, I understand that! Absolutely, I think it is very important Mr. Ride. You seem to care so much about your daughter's future. "_

"_Yes, well, she is my daughter. I love her. She is my beautiful flower, as corny as it may sound. I only wish the best and that she not make any mistakes she's going to regret."_

"_Yes, I get that-but my son's not a mistake"_

"_Oh, I wasn't trying to say that!-" _Max's father laughs nervously,_ "- I mean, you know how teenagers these days can be. Nasty. And while we do love our children, we still know they can be a handful. Just like that day my daughter and your son were fooling around. The people of this generation can be so…unnerving"_

"_Tell me about it! Fang has always been the moody type!" She blurts out in agreement with humor in her voice._

"I have not!" Fang whisper shouts to himself.

He wants nothing more right now than to go downstairs and punch this man in the face. To tell him to never return and show who's boss.

He soon notices the talking has stopped and then the room is filled with small laughs.

"_Well, my son is going to wake up soon, I have to make him breakfast."_

"_Say, why don't we all enjoy a nice dinner! Both families! We can bond you know, just like old times." _He says.

"_That would be lovely, my husband would love that and I'm pretty sure Fang would too"_

Fang gags out.

_Why would I wanna have dinner with a low-life like you? _He thinks, anger flowing in ways.

"_Yes, well I should get going. And let me know what's gonna happen with that dinner idea"_

"_Yes, I will! I'll inform my husband. He's been super busy lately with his work so I'll have to see when he has time"_

"_That's not a problem!" _He shows her a smile.

She smiles back, closing the front door after he leaves, waving goodbye then turns around-

"Oh, Fang! You scared me" She blurts out as she sees his tired figure leaning against the stairs, arms crossed. She ignores his not-so-day-ready presence with his shaggy black hair all over the place and his long pajama pants with a gray tank top showing how slim his mid section really is.

"You probably heard what Mr.-" She stops as soon as he walks just past her, shoulders bumping slightly. He peaks open the living room window curtain to see the man walking to his driveway and heading to the door. He lets go and turns to face his mom,

"I'm not going" He states, walking to the breakfast room now.

"Fang, this will give you an insight! See how much you're misundersta-"

"You're the one who's misunderstanding. You and dad. You're just not getting it. This is fake. It's all fake."

"Fang, what are you talki-"

"He puts on a fake smile, knocks on our door and begins to talk to you about these so called feelings that hinder him on the inside just so you can pity him. So you can feel sorry for him and think he's just a sad little man. Well, he's not. He's a fucking lunatistic pedophile!"

"Fang! Watch your mouth!" She corrects him with a strong parental tone.

"Don't speak of him like that. He truly is a nice man!"

Fang groans out, as if he were in pain, covering his face with his palms.

His mother watches his dramatic ensemble.

"I'm so –tired!" He says, his voice out of breath.

"I'm tired of having this same argument" He finally says.

She lets out a big sigh, "Get ready for school. I'll drive you today" then leaves him, knowing that he's not only had enough of Max's father but also of his own mother. Which is why, she leaves, not wanting to upset him any further.

"Hey man" Iggy says, catching up to Fang.

Fang nods at him, "What's up?"

"My mom insists we have dinner with Max's father" Fang sticks his tongue out in disgust.

"Wow. That can't turn out so good." Iggy crosses his arms.

"Thanks" Fang states dryly, opening his locker.

"And Max?"

"Yeah, her too"

"So are you?" Iggy questions curiously.

"I dunno. All I know is that I'm not attending this little get-together" He states, shutting his locker and casually walking off.

Somehow Iggy knows Fang's next move. "I wouldn't go there if I were you" Iggy jogs a little, getting next to Fang.

"Why?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Word is, Max has a new little boy toy" Iggy smirks. Fang glares at him.

"So? Why would I ca-"

"Dude, seriously. You're sooo in denial right now. I swear, denial is eating you right up. C'mon, when are you gonna face the fact tha-"

"Iggy. I told you, I don't like her like that"

"Oh, really?" Iggy crosses his arms.

"She's not even my type" Fang shrugs, grimacing a bit as he catches sight of Max and her new boy in the distance, about 20 yards away.

"You keep saying that, but just look at how you're handling that poor innocent book-" Iggy's eyes drop down to Fan's textbooks and see how tight Fang is holding them and his muscles contracting.

"Nothing poor and innocent about Algebra II" Fang shoves it back into his locker without a care.

"You so wanna kill him" Iggy says casually, leaning against a random locker.

"Iggy, I'm about to punch you"

Iggy rolls his eyes, "Whatever dude. I have someone to meet anyway" He smiles at him and turns to see Nudge a couple feet from him, talking to her friends.

"See ya man" He says to Fang.

Fang turns his attention back to Max and that boy as soon as Iggy leaves. He sees the boy place his arm around her waist and it makes her laugh, and then he gently grabs her and places her on top of his lap, caressing her thigh a bit.

"Touchy pervert" Fang mutters to himself, walking off to meet up with the two.

As he gets closer, he notices the guy whisper something into Max's ear. But she soon notices Fang and looks up at him with surprise, still sitting in the other guys lap.

Fang finds it a little amusing how he doesn't notice him, maybe it's because he never makes any noise when he walks.

He does however, see Max looking behind his shoulder and he turns around and finally sees Fang, casually standing there in contrapposto with his arms crossed.

"Hi" He says to Fang questioningly, now looking at him. It makes Fang the slightest of annoyed when he soon notices the other guy is studying him. Because that's normally Fang's thing.

"I need to tell you something" He says with a straight face, looking at Max and completely ignoring the greeting of the other guy.

"Oh, sure" Max says, getting off the boy's lap and walking towards him a little.

"What do you want to tell me?"

"Can we talk somewhere else?" Fang asks.

Max looks behind her, to see her soon-to-be-boyfriend looking a bit confused.

"I'll be right back" She says to him.

He nods at her, "It's cool, I was gonna go study for some test I have anyways." He stands up and leans into her to give her a long kiss, taking her aback.

Fang clears his throat, looking slightly annoyed at the two, watching as the boy practically eats Max right up in front of him.

"See ya" He winks at her, walking up to his other friends. She looks down to her shoes, a bit bewildered. Fang rolls his eyes and mutters,

"If I needed makeout lessons, I would've asked"

Max hears him; "Sorry" She mutters back, looking slightly embarrassed knowing it was a bit rude to do that in front of him.

"Can I…ask you this?" He asks her as they begin walking outside the school and into the back.

"What?"

"Who is he? I mean, it's not my business or anything…but he just, seems a bit random" Fang finishes off.

"No. We've known each other for a while now"

"Oh" Fang says, eyebrows raised.

"-well, I feel like punching the living daylights out of him" He mutters to himself very quietly.

"What?" She turns to him, eyebrows furrowed.

"Nothing" He responds and decides to drop the subject. He does think it's weird though, that she has a new boyfriend. Fang thought for sure, she didn't want other people getting hurt. What if Max's father finds out about this new 'boyfriend'? Will he end up running him over too? Just like Max's last boyfriend? He thinks it's a bit weird, indeed and the question truly puzzles him. For now though, he decides to not bring it up.

"Look, my mom thinks it's a good idea to have lunch with you and your uh-" He finishes quickly.

Max doesn't blame him though, for not wanting to use the legal term to describe that person.

"Why? I don't get it. Wait, did he come over your house? Or did your mom come over mine?" Max asks with shock.

Fang nods, "Yeah, he came over ours and proposed my family and I have dinner with you and him"

"I don't know…."

"That's what I said. Well, in a way" He gestures.

"That's nice but, I'm going to have to pass up on that one"

"Okay, well I was gonna do the same thing too" He shrugs.

"Oh, here" He gets out a stack of stapled papers from his bag and gives it to her, "I finished it"

Max smiles, first at the sight of her finished part of the project, which would've taken her literally months if she were to do it herself. Then, her smile gradually points to him.

"Thank you. This must've taken you hours…"

"Not when you're as smart as me" He points to himself with his thumb, grinning.

She puts the papers away in her backpack,

"Really, thank you. I didn't even know anything about the Muses. I had no clue where I was headed with my part of the project" She says, hoping he didn't hear the last part though because she doesn't want to come out as dumb.

But he does, "No problem" He says, shrugging.

They walk back to the school and he chuckles a bit, remembering the scribbly notes Max had written down on the paper he finished for her.

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**Please review :) It would mean a lot. And thank you for your previous reviews :)**


	7. To Save You, You Must First Scream

**Hello! So I know it's been a while, so here's a new chapter. It's kinda long, I've been working on it these past weeks whenever I had the chance to. Please let me know what you think by reviewing after you're finished reading, I like reviews :] And for those people who also read my other story, "Neverending Things" I just want to say that I haven't abandoned that story. Just think of it as a reeeeeally long long long hiatus. Okay, here's the chapter:**

**Just Watch**

**Chapter 7**

To Save You, You Must First Scream

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"No, I definitely think skydiving is much more fun –and risky" He turns his head in a fast movement, sending her a devilish grin.

She rolls her eyes and turns onto her back, now against the green surface of the grass.

"-I just think bungee jumping is for wusses. Now, if you want the real thing -you know, without all those secure cords and straps suffocating you-"

"They're so you won't fall to your death when you jump into the air, duh" She rolls her eyes once more, chewing her pen.

He scoffs, "Yeah whatever…but like I sa-"

"I know, I know. Your point is proven, geez. Now could you be quiet?" She gives him a sarcastic smile.

"Oh, and by the way, you say that skydiving beats bungee jumping? Well, you're greatly mistaken sir…ever heard of parachutes? You're supposed to use 'em when doing the whole, ya know…'sky diving' " She says, putting quotes around those words.

"Alright, I give up" He throws himself on the grass, his back landing on her hard backpack.

"Ah, what do you have in here? Bricks?-" She snatches her bag away before he finishes his sentence.

"Female stuff" She says dryly towards him with a straight face.

"Har- you know what, I'm not even gonna go there" He drops the topic.

"You do that" She smiles, closing her eyes. The sun shines bright on her face, revealing a healthy glow of such an innocent girl.

"Do you have sunglasses?" She asks out of the blue.

He turns to her, "Can you imagine me with sunglasses?" He rests on his side, the front of his body facing her.

Max squints her eyes a little, as if visualizing and grimaces. Fang rolls his eyes at her reaction.

"Ew, no you're right. That would be disturbing"

"Naah, I think I'd look pretty-"

"Hot?" She turns to him

He looks her in the eyes and grins, "I was gonna say less emo-y…but nooow-" he chants, "-that you mention it, I would, wouldn't I?"

"Like I'm answering that" Max mutters under her breath.

…

"I'm bored" Fang says a few minutes later after the small talk between them has subsided.

"Say something" He touches her side, and it makes her giggle a little.

"Okay" She sits up. He does the same.

"I think I have a massive crush on Iggy" She bites her lip.

Fang says nothing of this but instead stares at her indifferently. He feels his stomach sink lower, just a little.

"KIDDING!" She laughs in his face.

Fang rolls his eyes, letting himself fall back onto the grass.

"Hah! And you thought I was serious, mmm mmm mmm…."

"So not funny" He says quietly, not finding her joke hilarious at all.

"Ugh, whatever"

"He-ey!" A distant voice calls.

They both run around, "Hi" Fang says to Nudge. She grins at both of them.

Iggy soon joins them, "Whatup dude" He nods to Fang.

Fang gives them a slight smile.

"So what're you two lovebirds up t- oh, that's right, Max has a boyfriend and it's not Fang" Iggy frowns.

Fang moves his head to the side clearing his throat a bit and turning to Max.

She turns away, avoiding his eye contact. He sees the small tint of pink forming on her fair cheeks.

"Blushing" He mutters very quietly so that only she can hear him and not the other two. He runs his finger along her side like a feather, very lightly and without any intentions. Just casually and not importantly.

But with every contact, her smile grows wider and she's about to burst open into joyful laughter.

"How cute" Nudge nods towards them, telling Iggy.

Iggy nods, placing his arm around her waist and whispers in her ear, "do you know why Max is going out wi-"

"Oh,-" Nudge looks at him and shakes her head, "no"

"Ah, somehow I knew you wouldn't"

"Is she shy?" Nudge whispers back.

Iggy shrugs, "Barely know her. Ask Fang. He's super quiet so they're compatible" He smiles. Nudge nods, "They're adorable" They both look at Max and Fang who keep exchanging small quiet words to each other and letting out little chuckles every now and then.

"You know I don't like you having boyfriends" He says sternly to her, watching her as she searches for something around the living room.

She glares at him, "Don't need you to tell me" She says silently.

"I heard that!-" he uncrosses his arms and approaches her, grabbing her hard by the wrist making her wince, "-don't challenge me" he whispers with clenched teeth into her ear.

He lets her go and she clutches her own wrist, seeing the visible redness now, "I hate you…I hate what you've become!" She yells at him.

He lifts a hand up in the air, warning her.

She looks up at it and then to him and keeps backing away as he keeps getting loser to her.

"You wanna hit me? Go ahead, hit me! But they'll find out, they all will, eventu-"

Her body turns around by the force from his slap to her face. She puts a hand to her lip, seeing small spots of red on her hand now.

"I warned you" He says, his face all red, pumped with blood.

"Upstairs. Now." He threatens her with wide eyes.

She glares at him behind teary eyes and starts walking behind the couch, not wanting to get near him to get to her room. He stares at her all the way as she runs upstairs, clasping her lips shut to prevent herself from sobbing out loud.

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"That looks pretty bad" The short nurse with light brown hair says as she gently lifts Max's chin up to inspect her lip.

"How did you say this happened again?" She jots some notes down onto the papers in her wooden clipboard.

"S- um, stray cat" She says, stuttering and feeling stupid that she didn't plan ahead of what to say as an explanation.

The school nurse looks up at her, "Must've been one really feral cat." She jots down more notes.

Max nods and looks to everywhere in the nurse's small office.

"Were you trying to give it food or something? You should never go that close to un-tamed animals. You come too close and they might interpret you as a threat and attack, only to defend themselves."

"I -yeah, I know. It won't happen again. It was stupid of me, I know"

"Strange though" The nurse stares at Max. Her heart starts to quicken, feeling nervous and not wanting her to interrogate her any further,

"What?"

"Unless that cat had on some boxing gloves,-" she laughs of humor,"- I don't see how you could've gotten that bruise right under your bottom lip" She glances to Max while looking for her ice pads in the small cooler.

Max is reluctant; she never wanted to come here in the first place. The only reason why she's in the school nurse's office is because one of the teachers saw her lip and led her to the nurse. It was out of worried concern though, it's not like the teacher was mad or anything. That would be stupid.

"Here, just put this near your bottom lip" The nurse hands Max a blue frozen ice pad.

"Thanks" Max murmurs to her.

"You know Max-" She looks at her in a worried way. Max looks from the floor tile up to her.

"Never be afraid to come and talk, okay? We have-"

"Whatdya mean?" Max asks, as if knowing nothing.

"This is a serious matter" The nurse folds her arms over her chest and takes off her glasses.

"There is no reason to be afraid-"

Max cuts her off once more, "Oh, no! Really, it's _nothing _at all. I feel really good. I'm fine, really. I'm not feeling down or anything. And this doesn't even hurt" Max hands the ice pack back to the nurse but she does not take it from her.

"Keep it" The nurse says. "Max, I don't want you to feel uncomfortable about this"

"It's not that at all" She puts a hand to her throat, feeling her voice start to crack. Given from the facial expression of the nurse, she noticed as well.

"I know some girls can be mean and nasty. Just no more fighting okay?" The nurse tells her.

"Wha- oh, yeah yeah. Definitely, no more. Okay" She nods, feeling relieved that the nurse misinterpreted the situation.

"Did this happen in gym or something?"

"Yeah, the lockers, no biggy though"

"Are you sure? If you tell me who hit you I could tell the principle and have her speak to her"

"No!-" she takes her aback, "Please, don't. Like I said, it was no big deal. I just had a bad day yesterday and I let it out on some girl. She did nothing, really. She just pushed me and I lost my balance because the floors were wet since the janitor had just cleaned them so I backed into an open locker door and that's it. Really." Max says with pleading eyes, not wanting the nurse to question he any further.

_First Fang, now the school nurse! _Max thinks.

"Convincing story" The nurse replies, arms still crossed.

"Okay, well-" She turns her head, glancing over at the huge round clock hanging on the white wall.

"Next period is about to start. You go on, and if you ever need to talk just know that the school counselor is only down the hall."

"Right, got it" Max says in a hurried rush, walking out the office and disappearing into the crowd once the loud bell rings.

"….."

"Whoa!" they both say all of a sudden in surprisement.

She bends down; grabbing her books she dropped by accident.

"Hey" He smiles at her.

"What did I say about saying _hey _too much? And every time we meet, it's creepy"

"Creepy?" He raises an eyebrow, "You do know _hey _is like saying hi or what's up?" He corrects, throwing her a playful smirk. She rolls her eyes, "Whatever, Fang" She says under her breath.

"So you have lunch period too, right?" He inquires, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah"

"Great-" He gives her a small smile, "Sit with us" He says.

"Us?" Max questions, eyebrows raised. Fang nods his head,

"Yeah, you know Iggy and a bunch o' other people" Fang lends her a hand for her to get up, finishing putting her textbooks back into her bag.

"Oh, I don't know…I like sitting alone most of the time"

"But we've sat together before. See? You were never alone, at least not really since I've started talking to you"

Max sighs, "Well that's mostly because you never really talk during lunch. You just sit there…all quiet and observing people. It's like you enjoy eavesdropping or somethi- hey! Were you like a spy in another life?" She laughs, obviously kidding.

Despite feeling happy seeing that beautiful girl smile, Fang rolls his eyes, "See you there" and casually runs away, spotting a flash of Iggy over her shoulder and going off to catch up to him.

She rolls her eyes, "Jerk" She mutters, putting her hair back; off her chest.

"So you guys are like a thing now?" A girl walks up to her, touching her shoulder to get her attention. Max turns around, "Um, why are you talking to me?"

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"Here. That's where Nudge always sits. She like totally freaks if she doesn't sit in the same spot all the time" Fang tells her, switching seats with Max. He watches her every move from setting her tray down on the table to tying her long hair back so it won't get in her face. In a causal manner, of course. Not in some creeper obsessed way.

"There you go with the whole observing thing again" Max mutters to herself.

"Sorry. Hey do you ha-"

"Hey sexy" The guy's head appears in between their shoulders, separating them a bit. He gives her a full on kiss on the lips, surprising her.

"Um, hi" She is clearly just as startled as Fang is.

"You're looking even hotter today" He looks at her and she sends him a normal smile but Fang can tell it's obviously an uncomfortable _ugh get outta my face you pervert_ type of fake smile.

"Bet you noticed too" He turns to face Fang, smiling at him.

"Nope. Must've missed it" Fang replies, both Max and the other guy hearing him.

Okay, so she feels like she's just been insulted, but she decides to just shove it off.

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She gets out of the stall and walks up to the sink, washing her hands. For a second, she has eye contact with the huge mirror right in front of her. She looks at herself.

"Who would ever think I'm sexy. He said himself he didn't even notice"

She looks down, wondering when in the world did she start caring about what Fang thought about her appearance.

If she's ugly or not. If _he _think she's ugly or not. If he thinks she's beautiful.

She dries off her hands with the brown paper towel and laughs a bit at herself.

"Stupid. What am I saying?"

"You talkin' to yourself?" Nudge enters the girls' bathroom with a confused face on. She manages to smile at her still though, being the friendly person she is.

"Uh no. Heh, I was just…it's nothing" She aims for the black tall trash bin in the corner of the washroom, throwing the scrunched up paper.

"Bye" She starts to head out the door.

"Bye? We still have lunch together!" Nudge giggles. "I'm starting to think you're avoiding me. I don't bite you know" She grins happily at Max.

"I know-" Max tries to do her best to smile back but clearly isn't up for the jokes or humor of anything.

"I've got these bad stomach cramps so I'm just gonna go rest in the caf room.

"O-kay?" Nudge is left alone and puzzled towards Max's strange behavior.

_I can't believe even for a second I actually cared about what he thought of me! He's just stupid, stupid, stupid! Fang is so stupid and just too ughh! All guys are stupid! _

"You okay?" His voice appears from nowhere

She gasps, "Yeah, I'm fine" she says quite coldly

"Ouch" Fang sits down next to her on the bench

"Oh, I'm sorry, did that hurt huuuge narcissistic ego of yours?" She bites back.

"I'm sorry if I said something mean to you?" He asks with quite confusion.

"Whatever" Max gives out a small laugh to herself, rubbing her forehead. She reminds herself again why she is so mad at him and that the reason seems to be very stupid.

"You know what, never mind. Just forget it."

"What up people?" Iggy blurts out, playfully bumping Fang's shoulder. He takes a seat next to Max, unaware of her state.

"We were talking" Nudge says with huge eyes, "and we think we definitely should go on that double date!" She grins at both Max and Fang.

"Dou- you're serious?" Fang lets the words slip out of his tongue like slowly spilling juice from a glass. Max notices and feels quite insulted, again.

"Yeah, it's not like I like him. And anyways, I have a boyfriend"

"Thanks" Fang mutters sarcastically. However, since both are sitting so closely to each other, their arms touching, she can clearly hear it. She looks down at her lap, now feeling a bit mean. Besides, she knows she's overreacting about the whole thing. And since when did she ever care about Fang's opinion? Her boyfriend called her 'sexy', so she obviously must be. Maybe Fang just doesn't look at girls as if they were some sex symbols.

"Oh, you know that party this guy from Dyl's Geometry class is hosting?" Iggy looks up from his phone.

"No" Nudge says

"I didn't tell you guys?" He looks up at all his friends and they shake their heads no.

"Oh, well he's throwing this party tonight. Starts at 8. Do you wanna go? You don't have to though; I was going to go so I was just wondering if you guys wanted to come with me."

"Yeah we should-", "-Ohmygosh!- Everyone but her jumps a little out of their seat

"I just remembered!" Nudge exclaims, frowning.

"What?" Iggy looks at her.

"Dentist appointment on Friday! My mouth is gonna hurt sooo much" She complains, shoulders dropping.

"Aww, and I wanted you to come" He replies, giving her a smile. She rests her head on his shoulder

"Yeah. Omg! Max -Fang, you two have gotta like take at least 100 pics of you guys together!"

"I won't be go-"

"Sure, sounds fun" He smiles at Nudge, then turns to Max who is already looking at him and his smile suddenly changes into a more intimate, wanting one. She loses eye contact with him again, feeling not exactly 'uncomfortable' but just very…._nervous_…_hot_ when he does that. Not to mention weirded out. Since when did Fang start flirting with her?

"Sooo…-" Fang gets off the bench and gets close to Max, talking low enough so the others won't hear, "Can we talk like after school? Maybe you can meet me before leaving?" He waits for her reply.

She nods, putting strand hairs that fall on her face behind her ear. Though, she wouldn't mind hiding it for a while from the peering eyes looking at her.

She watches casually as he walks off, eventually fading as he takes a turn down the hall.

"Gotta go to. Study time. Big test" Iggy grins, bouncing off quickly.

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"You wanted me?" Max asks, approaching Fang from behind and seeing him put away a notebook into his bag.

"Quite a play on words" He replies, smiling and making her bite her lip.

"But yeah, I did. Are you going with us?" hope present in his eyes.

"Us?" She raises her eyebrow, confused.

"Iggy and I are going to that party" She rolls her eyes, a little smile tugging at her lips, causing him to give out a small laugh.

"Yeah, I know right? That word seems highly overrated, but maybe you should just have some fun once in a while, you know?" He licks his lips, smiling at her.

Indeed she wonders why he's been smiling to her a lot lately. And not just his normal smiles-well, if he has any. Since she's been hanging out with Fang, she's surely noticed this one thing about him and it's that he never really smiles –in general. No genuine smile in general. Sure he throws around fake smiles around all the time. Okay, not all the time. Just no real and warm smiles. Not at people, like a friendly welcome; not at jokes; not really anything. Okay, maybe sometimes at Iggy because he makes Fang happy. This makes her wonder if she makes him happy as well. That's different though, they've known each other for years and years. Iggy's like a brother to Fang. However, when he does smile, it's usually towards her and that's what makes her freak. She'll never admit it though. Mostly because she doesn't really like him so she doesn't want to give him mixed signals. But even if she _did _like him, she still wouldn't tell him.

But maybe it's all really only because she's afraid of what his response might be…

"You know I'll have to ask my dad" She looks at him, watching as he lets out a deep exhale, "Tell him you have a school project and that you're spending the ni-"

"You want me to lie?" She cuts him off, eyebrows raised.

"Like he'll let you Max. This is _him _we're talking about" He tries to reason with her

Max sighs, "Fine. I guess you're right. But you can't be the friend I'm supposed to be 'spending' the night ov-"

"Oh, definitely not" He gulps, his face turning more flesh toned.

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**.**

It is exactly 7:40 PM and Max has twenty minutes to arrive to that party.

_Not like it's some important meeting, I should just calm down! _She reassures herself. Though she is quite a bit nervous, that she must admit. Mostly because she's never really been to a 'party' before. Sure she's been to one or two get-togethers with a couple people she knew at school but that was like back in 6th or 7th grade. Plus, they weren't really her friends. She hears some 'popular' and 'cool' kid is gonna host this one, so she definitely has a right to feel like throwing up.

Sad though, that she's not used to going out to these kinds of things. Always stuck in her house, barely comes out of her room; feeling safe in there. Somewhere she can hide away from him. Where she can lock the door and stay safe. Though sometimes she feels like she's contradicting herself, feeling caged in her room all day.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa wait" He puts a rough hand on her shoulder, startling her for a moment.

She turns to face him, already feeling the sweat drip down her forehead.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Stroject p-" She stops herself, realizing her error in use of words. He raises his eyebrow to her, not seeming very pleased. He definitely knows something is up now that she was so nervous, she confused her words up.

"You lying to me?" His lips barely part as he speaks. He looks at her from an upright angle; as if she were his slave and he were disgusted of her behavior just now.

"Did you plan on coming back?" He doesn't let go of her arm, instead applying more force on it.

"I never said I was leaving!" She snaps, trying to dislodge her now red arm away from his strong grip.

He suddenly lets go and now grabs her chin, "Did you tell anyone about this?" He asks, grimacing at her.

"No! And you know what? If someone finds out-"

"They're not gonna. Put that shit girls wear on your face. They won't notice a thing" He walks out the living room.

Max puts a hand to her heart, feeling it beat rapidly. Without thinking, she grabs the house keys and opens the door, running outside.

…running as fast as she can, away from her father.

She checks her watch, 7:58 PM and notices that no cars are home in Fang's driveway. Maybe he left already? Wait, does he even drive? He's 17, so she guesses so.

He did invite her to come with him though, so wouldn't he have waited for her or something?

A sound comes from behind her and she automatically hides behind Fang's garden. Ha. His _mom's_ garden.

She sees her father leave the house and go into his truck, driving off. Thankfully, he didn't even notice her.

She runs for Fang's front door, gently knocking on it.

"…"

After a short while, she rings the doorbell -repeatedly.

No answers. Max looks up to see all windows dark, no light is on.

No one must be home then.

And yet, he even offered to go with her.

Rude.

…**..**

…

…**.**

**..**

**.**

At first, it seems quite odd that everything sounds so quiet. Her face of worry fades as soon as she finds the right house and sees that it is indeed not quiet at all. There is music literally blasting out of the windows and door creaks, that you could hear it from miles away.

The door is left open, perhaps for anyone to come in. Even strangers. Guess this guy doesn't care much of who attends his party. Max makes her way into the house and notices it's quite dark, only flashes of techicolor lights spinning everywhere in the room, hitting every single angle.

Everywhere she walks, dozens of people are literally dancing their feet off. Others are just sitting on couches either passed out or making out with their partner.

_Where are they? _Max thinks, starting to feel lonely since she knows no one in the room. Especially since she's not really used to being crowded in a small room with dozens of people she doesn't know.

"Excuse me" She mutters, placing a hand on someone's back gently pushing them to move. They don't notice her much, only after a friend of their accidentally shoves her, causing her to almost fall over the lamp that's on top of a glass shelf.

"Oops, sorry" The guy laughs, glancing back to her and then continues doing what he was doing.

"Move!" She yells at someone's face since they won't want to get out of their way just to let her pass

"Hey-hey, calm down princess" A guy giggles, giving his friends a nod to look at her. He gives her a dirty smile. She grimaces at their face expressions,

"pervs" She says under her breath.

Finally, she spots a doorway so she enters, taking her to a kitchen. She grabs one of the tall stools and sits on it, resting her elbow on the marble table.

Someone barges in the kitchen door, startling her. A girl giggling holding the hand of her boyfriend.

"Upstairs" She bites her lip and he nods quite dizzily with a cheeky grin. Both the girl and Max's eyes meet for a second.

"Oh, great" Max says, recognizing the girl. One of Lissa's best friends. She just hopes that if Lissa is here at the party, she won't bother her since she can be super annoying.

She sighs, starting to get bored. Well, at least no one is talking to her. Or trying to talk to her, that is. She's glad no random guy or girl is coming up to her wanting to tell her their problems or just looking to have a good time upstairs. She doesn't want to sleep with a random stranger. At first she thought she did, but now she's just neutral about it. And she doesn't care that some girl just got dumped by her boyfriend through a text message.

"This sucks. Why'd I even come here?" She complains, getting off the stool and heading towards the living room door where the main focus is.

"Wanna dance?" A random guy grabs her by the waist

"Lemme go" She pushes him off, knowing that he's drunk and way high since his eyes are red. His legs bump into the sofa making him fall over.

"I'm leaving!" She says, pushing people out of her way.

A familiar laugh is heard so she turns around. She could've sworn it was Iggy's. But then again, she doesn't know him much to recognize his laugh. The voice is what sounded familiar.

Two hands suddenly gently place themselves down her shoulders, making her gasp. Thinking it's another weirdo, she decides to speak up

"I said sto-" She stops as soon as she turns around and sees the person's face.

They grin.

"Okay, this makes my mouth hurt" He rubs his jaw. Max rolls her eyes, but still unaware of what to say.

"I hate smiling" He complains to himself, making her grin.

"I'm glad you came, Max" He touches her arm in a friendly manner.

"And I'm really sorry that I-"

"What?" Max shouts as a group of guys pass by her, almost sweeping her away.

Fang grabs her hand, helping her get out of the crazy crowd.

"I said I'm sorry I didn't pick you u-"

"Don't worry about it. I get it. No big deal"

"Well- He bites his lip, "-I was gonna come with you, but I didn't know if whether or not you already left with Nudge. Iggy gave her your address"

"Oh, right. Whatever" She heads into the kitchen.

"You're not mad are you? Look, Iggy literally just showed up at my doorstep and off we went"

"Hmm, interesting. So you were afraid to knock on my door and check? I see. Funny."

"No, I just…ugh, I'm sorry that you were waiting for me"

"Waiting for _you?_" She laughs, shaking her head. She grabs a random can of beer that someone left on the counter and smells it. She makes a face at the strong smell but decides to drink it up anyways. Fang watches and grimaces, "Don't, please" He rests her arm down with his hand so she'll stop.

"I'm thirsty!" She yells in his face, taking him aback.

"Then here" He bends down, looking for something under one of the cabinets. He lets it close by itself, handing her a soda from a box that hasn't been opened.

"What do you like live here or something?" She asks, confused as to how he knew where the stuff would be.

He shrugs. "Sooo, you're not mad are you?"

She takes a sip, "Eew, this is warm", setting it down.

"Where's Iggy?" She adds. "Somewhere" He answers casually.

'Wow, I thought you guys would be stuck like glue to each other"

He half smiles, "Nah, every time we go to hangout at places like this we always separate"

"Aw, why?" She sets her drink down on the table.

Fang shrugs, "'Cause…I dunno" He says.

"Aw I think you're in love" She giggles

He looks up at her all of a sudden, his eyes huge

"WHAT?"

Her response comes out as a huge cheeky grin, "I'm kidding!" She smiles.

"Oh Go- you're not starting with the whole gay thing again, are you?"

"No" She grins.

He shakes his head at her, putting two hands on her shoulders

"Max, I am not gay. Do you understand?" He looks into her eyes, clearly annoyed.

"Yeah yeah, whatever" she begins walking upstairs.

"Where are you going?" He asks.

"Bathroom!" She yells, looking behind her to see him still standing in the kitchen, leaning against the table.

…..

"Uh, hello?" She knocks the door once, then a second time, but louder. Since no one answers, she turns the knob, entering.

"Oh wait!-" A female voice stops her. Max turns around, "Are you just gonna use the bathroom?"

"No, I'm gonna look for some meds" She answers, "Can I come in too? I desperately need a mirror!" She begs.

"Sure" Max replies. Both girls go in. Max opens up each small drawer in a shelf leaning against the bathroom wall. She begins looking for some pain relievers.

"Ugh, not it" She murmurs, tossing the product aside back into the bin. She stands back up, after soon finding a small bottle of Aleve pills; she takes it along with the soda Fang handed her.

She sighs, "Why are these pills so big? They're so hard to swallow" She complains. The girl chuckles, "I know right" she glances at her, putting on some lip gloss.

Max glances at her and spots her cosmetics bag resting on the sink. She notices a bottle of foundation and remembers what her father told her

"Hey, can I borrow some of that?" She asks. The girl smiles, "Sure" as she hands it to her.

Max looks at herself in the mirror. Since it's a very wide mirror, there is more than enough room for two people to use it at once.

She sees the bruise starting to turn darker. The bruise she got from her father, when he slapped her near her lip. It was hard enough to create a mark a purple mark near her chin.

Luckily for her, the makeup matches her skin tone just right.

"No one will ever notice a thing" She screws the cap of the glass foundation bottle back on, leaving it on top of the girl's makeup bag.

"What?" The girl says, now adding more mascara

"Max hesitates, "Nothing. Just a small incident"

The girls turns to Max, "Ooh" She notices the bruise.

"You can still see it?" Max asks, worried.

"Not really, no- but I remember seeing you like earlier"

Max's face turns into that of dread and the girl sees.

"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure no one saw it" She says, making a pop sound with her lips.

"I broke up with my ex because he hit me once. Never saw him again. But I'm happy. I suggest you do the same with that boy over there-"

"Oh, he's not –he didn't do this. I told you, just a stupid accident"

She scoffs, "Yeah. And I'm a virgin" She puckers her lips, raising an eyebrow, obviously kidding about that, given her appearance.

The girl smiles, "'s never nice to be hurt" She gives Max one last look and exits the bathroom.

Worry and awe clash together in her insides. She looks back into the mirror then taking a deep sigh, opens he door and leaves. Although she should probably feel bad about the situation that just occurred, she's not. She's just glad Fang didn't notice it. Maybe it has to do with the fact that all the different colored lights faded out her real skin tone. Either that or he's been drinking a little to not notice.

Somewhere deep inside her though, she hopes that Fang hasn't noticed the purple mark on her chin.

She starts looking for Fang, wondering if he stayed where she left him.

No, who is she kidding? Fang isn't some puppy. Loyal and all.

He's a boy. And he's at a P-A-R-T-Y.

What do you think that means?

Obviously looking around for some easy-to-get girls.

"Ugh, shut up" She whines, grabbing her head. She knows he's not that type of guy. But why does she care is he is?

She shakes her head, smiling a bit as she arrives back at the kitchen where she was previously chatting with Fang. _Well of course he wouldn't have stayed for you to finish using the bathroom! Who does that?_

…

**..**

**.**

Fang lays himself on a random bed in some random room he found. Feeling a bit tired and with a stomach ache, he decides to close his eyes and take a small rest.

He turns the lights from the lamp off, as it gives him a headache.

Then suddenly, a creak from the door of the room he's in is heard. He decides to ignore it though. Small footsteps are heard as they approach him.

The bed creaks and he just knows someone is trying to get his attention.

"What do you want?" He mutters, half asleep and eyes still closed.

"Max? Is that y-" He is cut off by a pair of lips smacking against his. Now that she's kissing him, he doesn't stop her. But maybe because he thinks it's a specific someone.

It is pitch black and neither can see. But this girl obviously followed him there, so she knows what Fang looks like.

"Mmm…" The girl moans out as their kiss suddenly turns more into a physical fierce one.

She lets go of his shirt and both her hands start trailing down Fang's jeans; his brows furrow as she starts to unzip them. Feeling like he's about to throw up makes him feel weak.

"Wait, st-" He stops, holding in his breath feeling a sudden rush in his throat. He puts a hand to his stomach and tries to get away to go find a trash bin or the nearest sink. The girl however, stops him. She grabs his arm, wanting to play a little longer and go to the next stop.

"Where you going?" She gives him the eyes of the devil along with a mischievous smile. She reaches down her white plain cami and takes it off, jumping on top of him faster than he can get out a reaction of this whole thing.

"Please, get off" They both freeze by the loud noise of the door banging against the wall, a form of rectangular light coming into the dark room as the door opens fully.

The lights switch on.

Max.

"Max-" Fang practically throws the girl off him as she runs to a corner with a pillow held to her naked chest.

"Never mind" Max mutters to herself, trying her best to just casually walk away from the whole scene. Given that she wants to run instead.

...

"Hey, wait!" He pants out, "-I've been looking everywhere for you" He says

"Well here I am" She says coldly. He notices, "Are you ok? Ca-"

"No Fang, I'm not okay! And if you were going to ask me if you could talk about this we cant! I really _really _don't care about what random girls you hookup with. I'm just not calm 'cause I feel like my damn head's about to explode, random perverts keep wanting to touch me and to top it all off you left me all alone knowing that I didn't know anyone in this party, they're all strangers! You know I'm not used to this type of scene" She rubs her temples, her elbows lying on the balcony of the stairs.

"Okay, first I just wanna say I'm sorry. Look, I wasn't feeling good so I had to lie down for a bit-"

"Oh, you were lying down alright" She coughs out with such scorn in her voice.

"What do you me-"

"You were under her control like a puppet"

"Would you stop cutting me off every five seconds? You _never _let me finish my sentences!"

Max's eyes widen and she turns to him, crossing her arms.

"So now you're the mad one now? Ugh! I should not have let you drag me into this! I'm in a lot of trouble just for stepping an inch out of my house! You think I wanted to come to this stupid party? I only came because you insisted! I thought-" She laughs, "-_we _were gonna have a nice time together! But that's not happening is it? Instead I find you with some topless slut!"

She puts a palm to her forehead feeling a sudden rush come to her head all over again.

"You know what, I try to be nice to you because I feel fucken sorry for you.-" He steps closer to her.

"I try to be your friend Max- your, your _everything_"

She whips her head to his direction after hearing this, looking surprised but saying nothing

"You think no one else notices why you're so weird at school? Why people haven't brought up anything about your visibly clear cuts or those bruises you try to hide so well, well they have! But you wanna know why they haven't ever bothered to come up to you to ask, it's because they don't care Max! Wake up! Look at the world we live in! Nobody cares about anybody anymore! These days you're either a loner or lucky enough to have few by your side. Bottom line, I want to mean something to you but I can't if you keep getting pissed at me every five minutes!"

Through his whole loud rant she has not once blinked. She has not once stopped starring at him either.

"Wow. Jerk" She says under her own now cracked voice. He gives her one last look, noticing water start to build up in her eyes. She runs down the hall, soon disappearing out of Fang's vision.

He leans his forehead against the wall in frustration, "stupid, stupid" He mutters to himself with his fists clenched.

"Hey girl"

Max turns around, the same girl from before who let her use her makeup on her bruise.

"You don't seem okay. What's wrong?" She nudges her shoulder gently with her beer bottle.

"It's nothing" Max leans her cheek against her knee. The other girl shrugs, taking a long jug of her beer down.

"Whatever. If you wanna talk about it, it's fine. I have nothing better to do. That guy in all black yours?"

Max turns to her, eyes all red as well as nose.

"No. We were never together."

"Interesting-" She takes another jug down.

"Why do you say that?" her brows furrow in confusion

The girl shrugs, "Dunno. For that fight, figured you guys were a couple or something"

Max chuckles, "No. He's just a friend. Or actually maybe he's not just a friend-" she pauses; now thinking.

The girl raises her eyebrow, finding the story interesting.

"Maybe he's just a person whose there. He says he cares"

"Does he show it?"

"What?" Max asks

"Does he show that he cares about you?"

She shrugs, "I dunno. What a hard question" She rubs her temples

She laughs, "Not hard at all hun. It's a simple question, very simple."

"Well I don't know that ok?"

"Geez, don't have to get all defensive"

Max sighs out, "Sorry, whatever. Just that, you made me think. Maybe he's just one of those people who come and go?"

The girl shrugs, "It's all up to you babe, whether you think that or not" She gets up, "Gotta go" She holds her cell to Max implying she got a text.

"Cool talkin' to ya" She smiles at Max, waving subtly as she runs off.

…

Soon she stands up, realizing that sitting there and moping over whatever it is she's feeling hurt by isn't going to take her anywhere.

She walks out the hallway downstairs and into the back door, leading her to the backyard. There she hears giggling and stops at the scene right ahead of her, through some thin silk curtains. The clearly sees the scenario, a guy and a girl being busy with each other. The guy's silhouette being somewhat similar to Fangs.

"I knew it" She says under grinded teeth. Without a second thought, she runs back inside the party to where all the loud music, screaming, and karaoke is.

"Move!" She pushes though a small crowd, not caring whether or not she's being rude. They give her a _what the hell _look but she couldn't care less about that.

She finds the same bathroom, stepping in and locking herself in. She practically attacks the small medicine cabinet just above the sink, not knowing what she's looking for but just digging through many different bottles and other small containers.

"No!" She suddenly shouts out as a bottle of pain relievers slips from her grip and smashes against the sink, the unsecured top causing the last few pills to fall down the drain.

"No, no, nooo" She falls back against the wall, her back sliding down as she throws the now useless empty bottle to a side.

Her vision falls to her ankle from where her sock rode down and few red cuts are on it. She looks at it in amazement. As if she had never seen them before. Maybe it's just the lighting though, maybe it makes them appear to be a much vibrant color. Certainly the red is not that all attention seeking.

She rolls up her jeans, seeing other scars on her calf; they don't stop anywhere near her knee. They go up her thigh and into the deepest part of her soul.

She rolls up the other leg of her jeans and sees that this leg is in much worse condition than the other. She puts a hand to her mouth.

_No wonder he didn't wanna sleep with me!_

Through all her agony she thinks that it's so funny how she's hurting over the fact that Fang didn't want to sleep with her before.

She thinks that she's a monster.

Just look at yourself. Scratches, cuts, bruises, scrapes, cuts, scars…..not one single area of my body is flawless. I think I'm so innocent because I'm still a virgin but I'm not at all, not like this. I'm just a monster.

"It's just like Fang said, _nobody _cares about me"

She drifts off to sleep on the bathroom floor, her back leaning against the wall, and her facing the toilet, idly watching the white tiles behind it.

…

…**..**

…**.**

…

**..**

**.**

Max wakes up soon though as the loud clatter of maybe a vase or something made of glass has rough contact against the non-carpeted floor.

She rubs her eyes and fans herself knowing falling asleep next to a toilet was not the smartest thing to do.

She gets herself up, unlocking the door and stepping out.

"Um, hey do you have the time?" She sounds a little off balance as she approaches a guy.

"11:17!" The person shouts over everyone's loud chatter. She finds it unbelievable of how these people can stay up so lively all night.

"Hey-"

Thinking it's Fang calling her, Max turns around with a small pint of hope.

"-Where ya going?"

It's not him, she realizes.

"Me?" She puts a hand to her chest.

"No, the girl behind you" He laughs with his friends.

She turns back around, "jackass" she says underneath her breath.

…

"You seem pretty lonely, wandering around here by yourself" Another stranger's voice calls out.

Max disregards him, continuing to make her way through the crowd back to the upstairs portion of the house.

"Where are your friends? Or did you come alone?" He asks, standing up and approaching her.

"Please don't follow me" She mutters. He however, does not take any action to stop.

"You know…-" He grabs her hand, getting her attention.

"I could show you a good time" He whispers in her ear, finally getting close enough to do so.

She's flustered, avoiding his eye contact as he slowly surrounds her with himself and a wall.

"Bet I could make you all hot and sweaty" He whispers again, "Sowhatdyasay?" He asks in a fast tone, seeming very eager and just knowing she'll cave in to him.

"I say…don't ever touch me again-"

As she starts walking away, she's stopped by the back of her top being tugged at.

"C'mon baby, be with me tonight" He flashes a smile.

"I don't even know you" She glares at him, trying to make him let go of her shirt.

"After this night, you'll know everything about me babe…and I you"

"_Don't _talk to me like that"

"Heyhey calm down-" He reassures her, "I don't wanna hurt you, I just wanna know you" he gets closer

"Well I don't wanna know you"

This is officially one of the most awkward moments she's ever been in. She doesn't know if she should scream at the top of her lungs –would that sound a bit too exaggerated? It's not like he's murdering her after all. Or should she just go with the flow? Make him think that he's lucky and then kick him in the nuts last minute to run away from this perverted creep.

…

"Have you seen Max?" He asks some random girl, "Who?" She looks at him like he's crazy.

"Girl, about 5"6 more or less, light brown hair?"

She rolls her eyes, giving off a small laugh at his inquiry; she exhales the smoke through her nose towards him, laughing her butt off.

He coughs a bit.

"No, but do you wanna smoke one with me?" She hands her cigarette to him.

"No thanks" He moves on to another person.

"Hey, have you seen a girl with wavy light brown hair, she's abou-"

"Is she hot? 'Cause if soo…" The guy answers out, shrugging while sending him a reckless smirk.

Fang looks at him like he just said the most stupid thing in the world, "Never mind" He says quietly to himself, walking away.

"Max?" He calls over the crowd.

"Max!" His voice goes a bit louder this time.

"Whoa, sorry-"

"Fang!" The girl's eyes go wide as she sends him a bashful and flirty grin.

"Lissa…." His voice trails off, taking in her appearance. He grimaces a bit as she continues to smile at him, placing her hand on his chest. He was just never really the type of guy who liked easy-to-get girls or girls that sold themselves cheap.

"You wanna hang?" Her long fake lashes bat at him.

"Can't.-" She grabs his arm, "Why? Stay." She leans in and he hesitates, grabbing a random dude next to him, making her bump foreheads with him.

"Fang!" She calls out, pissed that he rejected her kiss.

…

"…so whatdya say let's just get outta here?" He tries to be gentle but is very demanding and forceful to her.

"I told you already, leave me alone" She gets out of his grip finally.

"Hey, just chill. I said I wasn't gonna hurt you. What's your name?" he smiles at her.

"I told you, stop it"

"I'll pay you" The guys says suddenly

Max stops and turns to look at him, "I would never do that"

"Your price. Just name it" He smiles, "20 bucks? 50? 100? 200?"

"You don't have that type of money" She says.

He raises an eyebrow, "So does that mean you're interested?"

"I don't need your money, I'm not interested. I'm just con-confused" She reaches for her forehead, the pain starting all over again.

"You need help" He says.

She looks at him,

"I see a lot of things in you. You live a life of pain"

She looks at him with such dread, "I don't know what you're talking about"

"So why not…just let the pain drift away for one night?"

"No." She puts the tips of her fingers to her temples

"You don't know anything about me. You're just a creep, don't ever talk to me again" She runs to some bathroom, pushing a girl out of the way

"Say excuse me bitch" The girl says, giving her a nasty look.

She disregards it, and knocks on the bathroom.

"It's locked. Great" She sighs out.

"Um, where's the bathroom?" She asks another guy.

"Right in front of you" He says, sounding all high with his eyes red and puffy.

"I mean another one?" She corrects herself.

He shrugs, making her walk away knowing he won't be of much help.

She stops in front of a door.

_A room, thank you!_

Opening it, she looks for a bathroom or sink somewhere. She knows she can just go outside and let it out in the bushes or something but it's not really her style at all, plus she'd feel super uncomfortable just barfing in front of random strangers, she'll just freeze.

"Yes, a bathroom!" She cheers, rushing for the door.

She turns the sink on and splashes her face with cold water, feeling refreshed all of a sudden.

"Need a towel" She mutters but literally stops as soon as the room goes dark.

Someone switched off the lights.

A door closes shut, making her jump.

"Hello?" She asks, forgetting about the towel thing.

"Fang? Is that you?"

She leaves the bathroom and starts to blindly navigate her way to the front door of the bedroom, her arms spread in front of her to feel her surroundings.

But then there are quiet footsteps and she hears them.

Her heart starts to quicken, "Fang, if that's you it's so not funny" She backs away and hits a wall.

"That's not funny" She says in a breathy voice. Something touches her leg and she gasps out frightened running anywhere in a panicked rush. She trips though over something hard on the floor and comes falling forward as her forehead comes in a rough contact with the wooden bed post. She falls to the floor, unconscious.

_An hour and 38 minutes later_

Her eyes finally open up as her brain starts functioning clearly again. She sits herself up, the lights being switched on. She now fully remembers what had happened.

_Oh no…._she thinks in worry, panicked.

_Did they?...Did I? No no, this can't b-_

She stops her thinking, gasping as someone brushes against her arm. She looks down to them, not knowing there was someone lying beside her.

"Fang?" She shouts with widened yes, clearly shocked.

Immediately he awakens, coming instantly back to his senses as well.

"Max-" He rubs his eyes, "are you alright? I just found you sleeping here so I waited till you woke"

She sees it in his eyes how worrisome he seems to be towards her.

"I-I don't, I don't know" She says, thinking what had happened not more than two hours ago.

"You're starting to worry me, Max" He says.

"It's because I don't-" Her voice cracks, "I just don't know!" She falls back onto the bed spread.

"Oh, God!" She starts crying.

"Max, what's wrong?"

"There was someone…" She looks up at him through watery eyes, her vision starting to blur.

"Someone?" He asks. She nods, "There was a guy from earlier, and he wouldn't leave me alone. He…he wouldn't stop bothering me" She says in a breathy voice that's about to breakdown.

"Wait, wait…what are you saying?"

"No….no. I wasn't Fang"

"You weren't?" He asks, confusion defining his face.

"I wasn't! I wasn't! Oh God…" She sobs in her hands.

"I went blank after a while and I don't know what happened…" She continues crying silently, tears streaming down her face, but no noise coming out.

He looks at her with a face of pure horror, "I don't believe-"

"I don't want to believe it!" She cries out. He searches her eyes, "I'm not gonna say it's okay, because it's not. But please know that you're safe now" He grabs her head and puts it to his chest, she doesn't resist. Instead, she silently cries, using his chest as support; all her tears making his shirt damp.

"You wanna get out of here?" He asks, grabbing her shoulder gently and looking her in the eyes. She nods, her eyes very red.

He stands up, off the bed and makes his way to the other side of the bed, giving her a hand. He stands there patiently, waiting for her to grab it.

"I'll never hurt you" He says, reassuring her.

Though Fangs trying his hardest to be very sensitive and caring to her, these words make her want to barf and scare her because he's not the first person to tell her that.

She remembers those words the guy told her.

_Hey, just chill. I said I wasn't gonna hurt you. What's your name?_

Fang sighs out, feeling useless all of a sudden. He thinks….and comes to an understandment with himself that this is his entire fault. He did drag Max into coming to this party. And he left her alone, twice.

"I feel like killing myself" He says. Max turns to him from the bed, looking up at him from his standing position.

He bends down to his knees, "C'mon, lets' go" He tells her in the gentlest voice. She gives him his hand, getting off the bed but stumbles a little in trying to keep her balance.

He gives her a _you ok? _Look but before he can say anything, her cheeks puff up, just a bit. He realizes what she's about to do and runs her to the bathroom down the hall.

"Not here" He mutters, barging the bathroom door open. He opens up the toilet lid and she bends down while he grabs her hair.

She looks past him, eyeing someone and he notices so he gets up and shuts the door closed so she can have her privacy.

She begins retching and couching into the toilet, nothing coming out except her own saliva spit. He grabs some toilet paper, giving her some. She wipes her mouth

"You really finished?" He asks. She nods but then shakes her head and vomits into the toilet.

Fang starts to rub her back in soothing motions, "You'll be okay" He whispers, still holding her hair up.

"You'll be okay" He repeats in a quieter voice, but not to her.

This time he says it to himself, as if to reassure _himself_. As calm as he may seem right now on the outside or as calm as he's trying to be, on the inside he's having a panic attack.

"You're good?" He asks as she reaches for the handle of the flush.

"I'll do it" He gets up faster than her. He knows she feels both physically and emotionally weak right now. And he knows exactly why.

"Are you cold?"

She nods her head.

"Uhh, I don't have my jacket. Crap" He grabs her out of instincts and pulls her gently close to his chest. She huddles close to him, folding her legs and trying to keep as warm as she can.

"Oh-" He says, realizing something.

"I'll go get some blankets or something from the bedrooms-" He turns around, seeing her stopping him from getting up as she grabs the back of his shirt.

"Or not" he says to himself, sitting back down and hugging her to keep her warm.

"I'd give you my shirt, but I'd be freezing my ass off" He tells her, trying to make her laugh. She only smiles the slightest bit however and lies her head down in between his legs. He tenses up a bit, "probably the most uncomfortable thing you could do to me right now" he mutters under his breath, but just shakes off all those hormonal feelings aside.

"Max, you're not…" He sighs out, trying to find the correct words to finish his sentence.

"You're not some monster…."

Now it is Max who tenses and she looks up at him, giving him a long good stare.

Did he read her mind or something? How could he know she was thinking that?

"And I'm an idiot. An asshole, you name it. I'm a jerk for saying those things I said before. I'm so sorry, I really am. See, I don't know what's gonna happen from now on, but I do know this, it'll only get better. Someday, it will. Believe me" He stops, clearing his voice. She stares at his one tear that trails down his face and tracks it down till it falls on her own cheek, then trailing down her face.

As if they cried the same tears. Share the same pain.

"I promise you it _will _get better. And the only thing I don't regret from what I said earlier was wanting to be your everything. Well…I wasn't lying."

Max stretches an arm out and touches the side of his face with her palm, feeling his hot and moist cheek.

"My scars make me ugly" She confides to him, finally speaking.

He looks down at her, "They don't…without them you'd be some totally different person. You wouldn't be the Max you are today"

"You're right-" She says, her hand falling down to his chest.

"I'd be a much _happier _Max"

"You're not a blank canvas, Max. I get it. You wish to be like other girls, but you're not. You'll never be as confident as Lissa or happy as Nudge because that's them. You've gotta be your own person."

"Well, if there's no confidence or happiness in me then there's only ugliness. I see it, Fang. I _see _ it everyday in the mirror. On my body…it's everywhere. If you were to look at me naked, you'd only see one thing Fang. And it's not what most guys like. And it's not what most girls want to be"

"That's not tr-"

"Fang, look at me!" She sits up, off his lap, spreading her arms wide apart.

"I see you" He tells her in his serious tone, "But I don't see anything wrong"

She starts unzipping her pants but he stops her, "And I don't need to" he whispers, placing his hand over hers.

"If what you say is so true Max, then why is it that the only thing I see sitting right in front of me beauty?"

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**Thank you for your previous reviews :] I hope you review this chapter as well, please :]**


	8. Through Touching, We Understood

**Alright, hello. It's been a while. I have to type something because then the format won't be aligned in the center; I mean look at my chap 4, the title isn't even centered. Kinda bothers me:/ Cause of those new social network buttons fanfic put up on the site. I think this is good enough though. Okay here's the chapter!**

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**Just Watch**

**Chapter 8:**

Through Touching, We Understood

_It is 11:01 AM…_

Location: fellow classmate's house; bathroom

She moves a little, making a little moan as she re-accommodates herself in a comfortable position.

Fang's eyebrows furrow; her small but wakening movements cause him to slowly exit the dream world.

He blinks a couple times, only seeing the blurriness of the room and squints as his bare eyes come into view with the sunlight shining through the window across the shower.

His eyes feel watery and his lashes stick together so he rubs his eyes, yawning a bit.

Looking around the whole room, he finally comes back to his senses, remembering why he's where he is…the bathroom floor. And not his bathroom floor.

The party.

Oh, yeah that's right

And who was at the party with him?

Oh.

He finally looks down and much to his surprise, he sees Max sleeping like a little baby; so cozy and so comfortable. He can't help but put on a sweet slight smile from seeing her this way. It truly melts his heart.

He moves his neck and groans a bit, setting his head back down against the tub and rubs the back of his neck.

"Damn it" He mutters to himself, feeling a noticeable pain.

He grabs Max gently and slowly off his lap as he tries to stand up, now stretching his back.

And his arms.

"Hey" He looks down at her.

"Max" He says really quietly; he doesn't know why though.

"Max" He repeats, but in his normal tone this time.

He kneels down, "Maaax"

"Yo, wakeup" He places a hand on her shoulder.

"Max" He repeats again, still looking at her.

He lets out a big sigh, "Max. Hey, wake up swee- uhm, never mind" He says with a really confused face on.

_Was I about to call her 'sweetie'?_

Fang falls back down on his butt and sees the sink so he gets up to go refresh his face. He turns the faucet on and splashes the cold water on his face, shutting his eyes as it comes in contact with his skin.

After a small while, he stops. And thinks.

"Fang?" A voice startles him, causing his train of thought to diminish.

"Yeah? Oh. You've woken"

She mumbles back, yawning and fixes her hair.

"I thought we left…" She mutters, massaging her temples.

"Are you okay? And no, we didn't. I came with Iggy, remember?"

"Did he leave?"

"Yeah" He dries off his hands on the sides of his jeans.

"When?"

"Fang shrugs, "We should go. I don't even think the guy who hosted this party knows there are still people here at his house"

"Just us?"

"Yeah-" He gives her an unexpecting smile, puzzling her for a moment.

"Just us" He finishes, clearing his throat afterwards.

She looks at him, nodding at what he says and then looks at her surroundings for a bit, but then her gaze latches back onto him and she notices that he won't stop looking into her eyes.

Her lips part slightly and she blinks a numerous amount of times, trying to avert his stare but instead finds herself not being able to be drawn into him.

As if they're the only two in the room.

Yeah, as cheesy as that sounds.

_What could he want?_ She asks herself.

Then suddenly, she remembers….

_"I promise you it __will __get better. And the only thing I don't regret from what I said earlier was wanting to be your everything. Well…I wasn't lying."_

_And the only thing I don't regret from what I said earlier was wanting to be your everything. Well…I wasn't lying."_

…_I don't regret from what I said earlier was wanting to be your everything. Well…I wasn't lying."_

…_.wanting to be your everything. Well…I wasn't lying."_

…_.be your everything. Well…I wasn't lying."_

…_.your everything. Well…I wasn't lying."_

_Well…I wasn't lying."_

…_I wasn't lying_

_I wasn't lying._

_I want to be your everything._

_YOUR _EVERYTHING_._

And at that moment, a stray tear falls down her cheek.

Just one.

She concentrates on those exact words he spoke to her.

Just the feeling…the feeling she gets.

No one has ever said that to her.

No one.

And no one has ever called her _beautiful _before.

He said it,

"If what you say is so true Max, then why is it that the only thing I see sitting right in front of me beauty?"

_Beauty._

But the more she focuses and thinks about those words, the more her face starts to redden.

She tries to cover her face with the palm of her hands as she looks away from him.

"You know," He moves closer to her, "you blush way one too many times" he says softly into her ear; making her practically explode.

"Uhmm, um…" She says, still avoiding his eyes, feeling like a naïve, helpless little girl.

She realizes that he's leaning closer to her. And as the closer he gets, the farther she leans away in panic as her back presses against the cold ceramic of the tub.

_My bruise!_

She gasps a bit, remembering. If he gets too close he might see the purple-ish spot on her face. She only hopes the makeup is still there.

Well he obviously knows about her situation, but still, she doesn't want to make him get even more sad or anything. If anything, she wants Fang to think that her beatings are gradually stopping and that her father is becoming a better person…

"Um, Fang!" She jolts up, practically sending herself up the ceiling.

She turns to him and sees his perplexed facial expression.

"Didn't you say we should go? We don't even live here…I mean, well, of course _we _don't live in the same house. What I meant was that I should go to my house and you to yours-" She stops herself, knowing she's just babbling now.

"Right" He responds, standing up but now seeming to have a side smile plastered onto his face. Oh, he knows why she's so uneasy all of a sudden.

He knows.

And it just causes her to blush even more.

...

"Is your headache gone?" He asks, glancing at her as they walk downstairs.

"A little bit. I still feel sort of dizzy or whatever"

"It's called a hangover…wait, how much did you drink?"

Max turns to him, "You just assume I drank?" feeling a little insulted.

"Well…um, didn't you?" He replies.

"I don't know. There were soo many…Ohmygosh Fang, there were sooo many boys there. Old boys. Young boys. Creepers and perverts everywhere. It was…" Her face suddenly turns into that of stone and he realizes why.

"Someone must've slipped something into your drink then" He rubs her back and her eyes start to slowly close as his hand motions cause her such a heavenly soothing comfort.

He stops though, noticing.

"You can't sleep right now. " He reminds her.

She gets up off the stair case and they continue finding their way out the house.

"Who even lives here? Man, I feel sorry for whatever kid hosted this party"

"Oh his parents killed him by now" She says dryly. He smiles a bit.

"Wait, I just remembered, I have my phone. I can call-"

"Fang?"

"Hm? Everything alright? I mean, well I know not _everything's _alright but,,." His voice trails off as he notices her saddened face.

_I'm stupid._

_The stupidest person alive._

_Why did I remind her of that?_

She stares away from him,

"I know this isn't any of my business and I don't even know why I want to know this or am asking you about this because it's super confidential and a total invasion of privacy to you and it's probably just some side effect of this 'hangover' or whatever, but did you umm…did you…"

"Did I?" He looks into her eyes, placing both hands on either side of her shoulders.

"Max? Did I what?" He searches her eyes, trying to find an answer or the slightest clue of what she's about to ask.

"Did you sleep with that girl?" She bites her lip, now feeling totally embarrassed why she even cared to ask him that.

At first, he is taken aback. He doesn't know how to answer her. But as his brain processes the information in his head, he realizes that maybe the reason why she wants to know isn't because of some 'side effect' or anything like that but instead just some lame excuse of Max's as a way to conceal the truth of asking him because he knows that she cares about the situation and what his answer might be.

In a way, this flatters him.

But, it makes him happier than anything. In a strange way…

Maybe it's a start of returning back feelings? If at all there were any….

"Nah" He finally responds in a soft mannered voice.

He doesn't know why but suddenly he feels like and _wants _to embrace her so hard until she is absorbed into him. Into his chest. Into his body. To be inside him forever. So she won't be able to witness the painful or sad side of life ever again. So she can be inside him and never come out. So he can keep her all to himself. To be the only one to care for her. Forever…

Yes, as sick and twisted as the idea may sound it's only the truth.

He _grabs _her without hesitating, without thinking twice and does indeed _embrace _her. He doesn't care if he smells like alcohol because indeed, she may too smell like it. Or that she smells like vomit, because it's her scent. And he…dare he think it, _loves _that scent.

Because it's her.

It's all Max.

He holds onto her and _squeezes _her until she has a hard time exhaling out.

He notices and hears her little gasps and speedy breathing but truthfully, he doesn't care.

And you know what? He couldn't care any less than he does now.

Because it's still not enough.

It's not enough to embrace her so tight and so hard. In his arms.

It's not enough to make her feel like she's about to explode. Like her lungs are about to give in and her heart fly all the way out, forever leaving her…

It's just not enough.

And he thinks, coming to a conclusion:

Maybe it just won't _ever _be enough.

As her cheeks are forced against his warm chest, his face is buried into her long brown hair. He breathes her scent in.

He keeps thinking.

He thinks that's it just not fair that there really isn't a _permanent _solution to this. To her pain. Her agony.

Sure, after all this blows off and is all over; after her father gets possibly thrown into jail or that rapist gets caught, there will still be the emotional scars to deal with.

And these,

They are always the hardest.

_Always._

"I didn't" He whispers in her hair, enjoying her smell.

"_I didn't_" He repeats once more, wanting to make her know that he's telling her the truth and not lying. After all, what reason would he have to lie?

He made it perfectly clear that he doesn't sleep around with random girls.

But maybe she may still need some convincing…

"I'm so sorry" Max whispers back with tears falling down her whole face.

It's just the way he's hugging her.

_Embracing _her.

No one –not one person in this whole _entire _world has made her feel the way she's feeling right now as he hugs her.

Well, 'hug' can't even describe what he's doing to her.

"It's not my business, I'm sorry" She keeps apologizing to him.

"Why are you sorry? I'm the one who dragged you into this_…this whole thing. _You really didn't need another problem accompanying you"

His arms squeeze her tighter with such a force, causing her face to look upward as her neck arches back.

"I'm not going to forgive you-" She says

His heart clenches

"Because there's nothing to be sorry about"

He closes his eyes, letting out that long and wheezy sigh. He really thought that she meant she wasn't going to forgive him in general, for all the things he's done…

He finally loosens his arms grip on her body and looks at her, now gently cupping each cheek.

"I'll be here, whenever you need me"

"Then you're gonna stay around for a long time 'cause there's no one else who…" Her gaze lands on his chest, "there's just no one else in general…" She says, blushing as the words form out.

"Thank you" He responds to her, holding onto her very closely one last time as they part to continue walking out of the house in order to find their way home.

He remembers the first time he actually introduced himself to her.

To Max, and this is what she said:

"_Look buddy, you've already just like wasted five whole minutes of my life...five whole minutes that I'll never get back! So uh, why don't you just scram already!"_

Who would've thought that that girl…that rude and menacing-seeming girl would have later on let herself be embraced by the very young man who rang her doorbell that day.

The very young man that she had insulted a numerous amount of times.

And now she,

Max. The very girl who had once said to him,

_"Don't __ever __touch me like that, __ever! __Do it again, and I'll press charges!"_

He would've never thought that she would have let him touch her, hold her like this…

And from before, the reason why she threatened him was simply because he had carelessly and gently grabbed her arm a bit, only for her to go all ballistic on him.

"C'mon, for real this time, we should go" He says. She nods and they both get up.

He opens the door for her and she exits, standing in the porch as she waits for him to find a number in his contacts list.

"I'm calling Igs" He mutters.

He takes a seat on one of the small steps and Max follows, doing the same.

"_Fang? I knew it was you, caller ID's pretty sweet huh?"_

"Yeah sure, um Iggy…can you come pick Max and I up?"

"_Uhhhhhh"_

"Igs"

"_Oh! Well, you see, I'm kinda busy"_

"Doing what?" Fang sounds a bit annoyed now.

"_Job interview"_

"Wait, but you went to the party last night" He now sounds concerned.

"_I know"_

"And you drank beer or alcohol?" Fang asks him.

"_Yeaaahh"_

"Wh- what were you thinking? Why would you go drink let alone attend some college party the _day _before a job interview? What is wrong with you?"

"_Dude, don't worry! Geez, I'm fine! I took headache meds, I'm fine"_

"Wait, so who drove last night?"

"_Nudge"_

"Oh. Well at least she didn't drink"

"_Oh, but she did my friend. She did"_

"Wha?"

"_It's just that I was too sleepy to drive, so I let her"_

"Iggy, you are the most stupid person I have ever met on this planet. Seriously"

"_Aww"_

"No, no _aww_. I'm serious Iggy. You could've waited to go home or got some designated driver to drive you both home. And maybe if you waited, Max and I could've also gone back with you guys and we wouldn't be in this dilemma"

Max hears Iggy sigh on the other line

"_Alright, alright. Well, how far are you from your home?"_

"Pretty far. You drove me here, remember?"

"_Yeah, I remember. Alright, well I guess –wait, can you walk to my house? It's not that far"_

"Sure"

"_And you know where I keep the spare keys right?"_

"Yeah"

"_Okay, so maybe I'll see you there, maybe not, who knows. Hey maybe later we can even celebrate me getting my first job interview. There's only this old lady here. I don't know why she wants to work though, she's like 70 or something –not you, ma'am"_ He says away from the phone

"_Hey Fang I'll call you later, okay? Or you call m-"_

_Beep_

"Alright, we should be able to walk to Iggy's house"

"Iggy's house?"

"Yeah. Ours are too far away to just walk there"

"Can't we take a taxi or something?" She asks him, standing up.

"You got money on you?"

"No."

"Great, well me neither. So, no we can't take a taxi…or something"

"We can hitchhike"

"_Hitchhike? _You're kidding me right?"

"Bad idea?"

"Too dangerous. Don't trust strangers"

"You were once a stranger" Max mutters

"Yeah, well so were you"

"But you're a guy"

Fang stops in the middle of his walking, "Your point?"

"I mean who knows what goes on in guys' minds"

"Really?" Fang raises his brow

"For all I know, you could've been thinking some sick stuff back there"

"What? You think I'm a pervert?"

"Well, noo. I didn't say that. You're not a pervert."

"Oh, good. Cause I'm not"

"I know…too sweet"

"Hm?"

"Hah? Uh, nothing"

"Really? 'Cause I thought I heard you say something just now"

"Did not. I'm just talking to myself"

He rolls his eyes and continues walking, "whatever"

...

"That actually wasn't a long walk" He says as they finally corner Iggy's house.

"Not a long walk? You're kidding right? My legs are killing me"

"You'll manage"

"Easy for you to say, you're probably athletic. I'm not."

"Trust me, I wouldn't even be able to save you from a gang of hippies"

This shocks her a bit, "Wow, you're serious?"

He nods.

"Wait, aren't hippies pacifists?"

"But they could attack you with their flower power" He laughs

She smiles at him.

"So this is his house, huh?"

"Yep" He bends down and checks underneath the small welcome rug for the key.

"That's so obvious, who would put it there?"

"Apparently, Iggy. But it's not there." He stands back up and now checks on top of the skinny white door frame.

"Is it there?"

"Not sure-" He stands on his tip-toes more in order to see or feel if the key is there better. His chest stretches more.

As Max waits, looking everywhere she can't help but to notice his shirt rising up. _Really _rising up. She sees his obvious abs and part of his visible v-line, a little lower than his hips. She automatically thinks that he was just joking when he said he's not athletic and wouldn't even be able to save her from a group of hippies.

Oh, well.

Funny, 'cause when she's with him, she feels absolutely 100 percent safe and secure.

"Hey, look I got it –oops" He picks it up, after accidentally dropping it.

"Come on" Fang lets her walk in first and goes in after her, locking the door afterwards and putting the keys in his pocket.

"Big house" Max says as she looks up at the ceiling and sees that it's a good 20-30 feet from where they are standing.

"Yeah. Can you hear your echo? It's pretty cool!" He raises his voice on the last part in order to hear his voice vibrate throughout the whole house.

Max laughs at him a little, thinking he's just like a little boy.

"Here, I'll show you to the bathroom" He says, leading her up the stairs.

"…"

"Here"

"Thanks. What are you going to do?"

"I dunno-" he shrugs, "wait for Iggy to come pick us up? He can drive us back to our homes"

"Oh. When do you think he'll be back?"

He shrugs again, "he said it wouldn't take long"

She nods at him.

"Oh! Right… the um,"

"I was…the bathroom"

"Yeah. I'll uh, be downstairs so…"

"Okay Fang" She gives him a little smile

He smiles back, feeling a bit flustered all of a sudden, "Okay" He turns and runs down the stairs.

Max closes the door and locks it, now washing up.

She washes her face and then takes her shirt off, making it fall to the floor.

She thinks it'd be too weird taking a shower in Iggy's house so she'll just refresh her body a little. Maybe if this were Fang's home, it'd be different…

She blushes instantly at the thought.

She slides her bra down and turns the faucet once again, letting a good amount fall into her palm and she splashes her arms, neck and chest with it.

After feeling clean and refreshed from washing the top part of her body, she finishes; now drying herself with the paper towels and dresses back up.

"Hey"

"Hi" She greets back as she walks down the stairs and joins him on the couch.

He rests his head back down and closes his eyes again.

"Were you sleeping?"

"Resting's more like it"

She fixes her hair and clears her throat, now looking everywhere and wondering why the TV isn't on. Hmm. Maybe Fang just doesn't feel like watching TV, so in that case she won't either. Max also puts her head back and closes her eyes.

Then, a thought hits her.

She looks at Fang, who seems to be sleeping like a baby.

Then she sees the form of his phone inside his pocket.

_How can he even fit anything in there? There skinny jeans!_ She thinks.

He moves a little, making it harder for her. She reaches down his jeans.

Wow, this makes her look like some sick minded girl.

She tries to get his phone, but it's jammed in his pocket.

_Are you kidding me? Since when does this happen!_

She places a hand on his upper thigh to support herself and grabs the sleek design of the phone.

Fang starts to blink and fully wakes up.

"Wha-" He gasps, "What are you doing?" He makes her jump, scaring the hell out of her.

"Your phone! I was just getting your phone! I swear!" She blushes, "What'd you thinking I was doing?"

He looks away from her, with a dumbfounded look on his face and a twitching eyebrow.

"You don't wanna know" He quietly mutters.

"Why do you want my phone for?"

"I just wanted to check if you have internet on here" She clicks on 'browser'

"Yeah, I do"

"Can I use it?"

"Sure, you don't have to ask"

"Oh" She looks down, thinking how sweet and nice he is.

"So, what are you checking?"

"Facebook"

"Right, you have one of those things"

"I don't know if I should delete it or not…should I?"

He shrugs, "I don't even have an answer to that. Your choice"

"You know, the only reason why I made an account was because I had this friend back in seventh grade. She uh, was kinda popular and introduced me to her other friends and we all started hanging out."

"I thought you said you never got out much?" He questions

"Well, yeah that's true, I didn't. I mean like in school, we hung out at places close to the school but like I was never allowed to hang out with them on the weekends or go to the mall or anything like that with them"

"Ah"

"So we became good friends and they all wanted me to make a Facebook so we could always be in contact and chat and stuff. But that was-"

"Ages ago…" He fills in.

"Yeah" She nods at him.

"I can't even remember the last time I talked to one of them. But oh my gosh, I remember one time-" Her eyes automatically light up and Fang notices that her although she's looking right at the screen of his phone, her mind is somewhere else. Remembering her wonderful memories. Her grin grows wider but eventually falls as she comes back up to the surface of reality.

She clears her voice, "Um, never mind…"

"Ok?"

"So, anyways we really started to know each other, they felt like really clo-" She clicks on a familiar image.

"Hey, that's you right?" She clicks on it.

He looks at the screen, "Yeah"

"Aw, it's on private" Max frowns.

He smirks, "hey, I'm here now. Whatever you wanna tell me, you can say it now"

Max rolls her eyes, "Just wanted to see your pics"

"Oh, trust me, not too many pics there anyways. I barely use that anyways"

"Not a fan of photos?"

"Well…I mean, not exactly, I just…you know, if there's a cool moment, maybe a picture would be nice"

"Yeah, pictures last forever, even though memories don't. You can only hold something in your heart for such a long time, until it starts to hurt and eventually you have to let it go."

She clicks on the little arrows to highlight the 'logout' button, but she doesn't click on OK. She immediately goes to 'account' and clicks on 'delete account' and clicks OK.

"Here" She gives him his phone back.

"Are you okay?" He looks at her with such worry on his face.

She turns to look at him, "Please stop asking me that" She says it as nicely as one could.

"I'm sorry" He shoves the phone back in his pocket and is surprised that she lay the side of her head on his shoulder.

"Do you want water?" He asks her.

"No, I'm fine"

"Then do you want pain relievers?"

"It's okay. I'm good"

"Okay. Do you-"

"Fang" She opens her eyes, getting his attention.

"Yeah?" He says in a scared voice as if he were a little boy who just got yelled at his teacher.

"I'm _fine_. Really. I'd be more concerned about your neck there, if I were you. Don't think I haven't noticed you trying to massage the pain away. Why don't you get pain meds?"

"But what if Iggy comes soon? I'd probably be asleep"

"I'll wake you"

"Yeah?"

"Yes, I will. Go and get them"

He gets off the couch and heads up the bathroom to go look in the cabinet up there.

"…."

"…."

"…."

"Back" He sits on the couch

"You took a while"

"Yeah, Iggy's mom has like thousands of those meds in her bathroom; I couldn't find the right ones"

"Funny" She says, smiling slightly.

"Why don't you turn the TV on?"

"That'd be weird"

"What? Watching TV?"

"It's not weird for you of course, since you and Iggy are like best friends, but I barely know him and getting all cozy and comfortable in his house would just be a little off"

"Ah, I see your point"

"I mean who knows what you two do up there"

"Yeah, you don't wanna know that either"

"What?" Her eyes widen and she looks at him surprised.

"We're very naughty, Max. Very, trust me" He says dryly.

"You're such a tease" She frowns at him.

He rolls his eyes, "I'm starting to think you like a little boy-on-boy action"

"Ugh" She coughs, "I do not"

"Yeah, sure" He responds, checking the time on his phone.

She sticks her tongue out at him

"Wow, that is so old Max. No one does that anymore"

"Jerk"

"Pervert"

"What? I am _not _a pervert! I'm a girl!"

"That doesn't mean you can't be a pervert. Lissa's a girl and she's a pervert"

Max's mouth falls agape and they both suddenly start laughing.

_Really _laughing.

She's just as surprised as he is to find herself laughing…

After all that's happened, she thought that she'd be barely able to smile even.

And this makes him happy. As happy as he could ever be. Just seeing her face form such laughter.

It just makes him so happy.

"Really?" She asks after they both calm down.

"She's been trying to get me since the fourth grade"

"Wow"

"Yeah, girl won't take a hint"

"She's persistent, I'll give her that"

He makes a funny high pitched noise with his mouth.

"Sorry, my throat…" He gets up to go get some water.

"You look tired"

"It's 'cause I am"

"So sleep"

"But wake me, ok?"

"I will" She sees his face contort to that of a sudden painful expression so he starts to rub his neck.

"I can do it for you" Realizing what she has said, she turns away from him, now avoiding him once again.

"You'd do that?" He asks her, yawning.

"Yeah, why not?" She mumbles, a bit embarrassed still.

"Wow. Thanks"

"Um…sure" She moves closer to him, "C'mere" She tugs on his sleeve and notices his state of acedia, slowing him down and making him fall asleep faster.

She tugs his sleeve again, "Fang" and his body falls sideways onto her lap; this causes her to blush.

"Turn over" She tells him but all he does is mutter something that she can't quite comprehend.

She places both hands on either sides of his neck. Seeing that he's not ticklish, she resumes moving them carefully in a slow and very languid manner.

_Okay, now I'm really glad I didn't wear shorts or a skirt! _

_"If what you say is so true Max, then why is it that the only thing I see sitting right in front of me beauty?"_

She just can't stop thinking about what he said to her….

_Did he just say that to be nice?_

And she can't believe that she was going to show him her body! Just like that! Only so he could see her scars though, of course.

But still…

She feels more and more ashamed the more she thinks about it.

If he hadn't stopped her, what would she have done? If he wouldn't have put his hand on hers to stop her, what would she have done?

Would she just have shown him her naked form? Shown him the monster she truly is underneath all that clothing?

_But he said…_

_He said I wasn't 'some monster'…_

She looks down at his sleeping face, part of it is covered with his long bangs and his hair is spread everywhere on her lap.

She feels his hair…so soft.

The so soft hair of the boy who cares so much for her.

With her hand motions, she continues to provide Fang the relief he needs from his neck pain.

"Are you sleeping?" She asks, obviously knowing that he is though.

"I still don't get it though…" She says to herself very quietly, looking, towards another place in the room but concentrating on her wording.

"I don't get why you care. And I guess I never will. I'm not trying to be insensitive but, I just don't get what's changed. It's like you never even cared before, and now you do. I just…don'.it"

"Neither do I"

She gasps and looks down at him.

_Has he been listening to me this whole time?_

"Don't" he gently grabs her wrist as he wraps his hand around it because he knows she was going to get up.

At first, it scares her because it reminds her of a certain feeling. But, she soon finds out that his touch is so much more different than her father's.

When he grabs her, it's so forcefully done. As if he were the predator and she'd be his next meal. It scares her so much and keeps her in so much tension.

However, when he touches her. _Fang. _To simply put it,

She doesn't know how to feel.

Surprised? Shocked? Flustered? Confused?

When that man grabs her, she _knows _what she's going to feel. It's going to be some form of pain. Some feeling formed into pain. Whether it be unpleasant, irritable, or aggravation, it will always _always always always _take the form of pain.

That. And fear.

It's just so different when she comes in contact with Fang. True, it does also scare her. But only because she _should _be scared. To have experienced and lived in a life solely full of hatred and pain and sorrow, does she not have permission to feel in such a way? In such this manner?

Of course.

He picks up his other arm and places his hand on the back of her neck while still holding her wrist with his other hand.

She's shaking, and he can clearly sense it. He feels her hand moving uncontrollably as he holds onto her wrist.

He pulls her closer to him so subtly that he's not sure whether or not she realizes it.

Their eyes won't stop looking at each other. He's looking at her with such a calm and impassive face. Yet, the closer he gets to her and she to him, the more she blushes and tries to look away but can't because she's not showing signs of lack of interest. She just looks at him with slightly wide eyes and lips partially parted.

His other hand by now let go of her wrist and slipped down to her fingers as he connects them. His head still lay on her lap and his other arm, stretched out with his hand on the back of her neck; pulling her in closer each second.

He lifts up his head a little to connect their lips and since they are now face-to-face contact he can clearly hear the sound of her as she gulps. Fang notices that she's not moving, that her body has literally frozen. He's got her hypnotized. Now, the only thing that he can hear is the loud pounding of their hearts.

Her lack of movement or blinking makes him grin suddenly; finding it amusing.

He tilts his head a little as finally plants his lips on hers.

At first, she feels so cold and lifeless, but then her body starts to become warm and her face starts burning up.

They don't let go of each other's hands throughout the whole experience.

Fang shifts his body a little, getting up in a more angled position in order to kiss Max better. And she's acutely aware of the back of his head on her thighs. The way his fine black hair just spreads over her thighs; fitting in between them. And every time he moves, even the smallest movement is just more nerve-racking for her. The more nervous she feels as her body shows it, shaking while his head and neck just lies on her lap. Her lap may not be bare, but she can still feel so warm. And he, not caring even the slightest bit of where he places what anywhere.

He likes it though.

Because it makes her feel more wanting. And he knows it. The fact that he's just there, his face inches away from her mother nature…

He knows how it makes her feel.

Desiring, of course.

But not in a sexual manner…

Emotional healing is more like it. The more she thinks of him, the more he'll get inside her head…

And that's exactly what he wants,

To understand her better,

To make her know that he's there for her,

Maybe she may not know it,

And he can't just explain it to her,

So that's why he wants to show her in tiny bits,

Of what it's like to feel something other than pain.

Despite feeling as if she's going to blow up anytime soon, with each second that passes, she starts to feel more, not exactly 'comfortable' but more familiar with this situation and the feel of his lips on hers so she begins to move her lips along with his so he won't feel like he's trying to show affection to a mannequin.

Fang sits up more and the hand that was on the back of her neck is now on the side of it instead and he puts more force into the kiss. This startles her, but she realizes that he may have a bit of a frustration so she does nothing about his actions.

"…"

No words are said but only the sound of their kissing fills the room when suddenly,

A door closes, scaring the hell out of both of them.

Fang jumps up, hitting Max with his head on her lip by accident

She blurts out, grabbing her lip.

"OhmyGod, Max I'm so sorry!" He grabs her and turns her to his direction, looking at her lip.

"Ahem" Another woman's voice is heard.

Fang gets up and Max follows.

"H-Hi Mrs. H" He stutters.

"Hello, Fang" She nods her head at him and her eyes land on Max, who is blushing insanely. She notices and smiles at her

"This is your girlfriend?" She asks Fang.

"Huh? Uh-" He automatically lets go of Max's hand, feeling all flustered.

"N –No, we were just, we weren't doing anything I swear"

She gives him a little laugh, "Fang, I'm not your school principal. I'm Iggy's mom"

"Right" He whispers to himself.

"Can I get you guys something?" She eyes them both, a warm smile on her face.

"No thank you. We were just waiting for Iggy to come pick us up"

"Oh, he must still be at his interview then. I could drive you guys home"

"Oh, don't worry about it Mrs. H, that's alright. Thank you very much though"

_He's so polite…_

"Alright" She passes Fang shoulder to shoulder, "She's really pretty" She says to Fang and Max hears this but looks away pretending like she didn't.

He nods, "Yeah…" He whispers back, a part of him hoping Max doesn't hear him.

He turns back to Max, "lets go upstairs" and grabs her hand

_Huh?_

But, we just had out first kiss. It's not like he wants to have-

She stops her thinking as soon as Fang opens the bathroom door.

_I'm so stupid_.

"I didn't mean to hurt you" He tells her, looking for something in the cabinet and then on the other shelves that are attached to the white walls.

Max sits on the toilet cover and he grabs a paper towel, wetting it with cold water and dabs it on her lip area.

"It's ok. Don't worry about it"

A couple of small drops of blood appear on the paper, making him feel depressed now because they just had their first kiss together and he already hurt her.

Not that he plans on _ever_ hurting her, that is.

He wipes her lips as he stands and she sits. The water from the damp paper trails down to her chin and he wipes it dry with the non-damp side of the paper.

Just then, Max remembers something and her eyes widen slightly.

_He's gonna wipe the makeup off my bruise!_

She puts a hand on Fang's arm to motion for him to stop but he doesn't get the hint.

"Fang-"

"Did I do that?" He asks her

"Oh God, Max I really didn't mean to. It was just-"

"Fang" She says his name super quietly that she's unsure if whether or not he heard her.

"Fuck, I messed up again" He mutters to himself.

Max stands, "Fang" She places both palms on the sides of his cheeks

"It wasn't….-" She looks away but still holding his face. She thinks of how to word her sentence.

"It wasn't you…" She lets him go and takes a step back, away from him.

So if not him, then he definitely knows who it was.

And definitely knows that this was not an accident.

He throws the damp paper towel away and takes a step away from Max, his forehead now touching the cold tiles of the wall. He lets out a deep sigh, his chest heaving up and down slowly.

She looks at him with a face of total worry and for a second, she doesn't know whether or not he'll want her comfort. And thinks of how ironic it is that now _he's _the one needing comfort.

She knows how short-tempered and angry Fang can get at times…

Slowly, she lifts her arm up, placing a hand on his shoulder very gently.

"…."

"I know what you wanna do-" She speaks up out of the blue suddenly.

"But please don't" Her hand travels to his back, hoping she'll calm him down.

But she sees his jaw clenched tight and his eyebrows furrowed so much, creating creases in between them. He keeps biting his lip so hard, making it a darker tint of red.

She moves closer to him and keeps rubbing his back.

"Please…" She says in a calm yet dreadful voice.

He's probably cursing mentally right now or killing her father. Mentally, that is.

Max rests her face on his back and her cheek all of a sudden feels very warm again.

She slips her hand underneath the back of his shirt and continues to rub his back. All done in a non-perverse manner, of course.

_So soft…_

She's not telling him that, though.

Looking at the side of his face, she notices that he's starting to calm back down again little by little. Her eyes trail to his lips and up the side of his face, now looking at his black lashes.

"Please" She keeps whispering to him until he completely settles down.

His breathing starts to slower and his chest starts to heave a little less also.

Well, duh…what did you think was gonna happen? He finally _touched _her and she seemed to like it. This…this sort of _intimate_ yet non-sexual feeling really did it for him.

Of course it would've sent him over the top!

Now, he cares more about her. And he's absolutely sure that with every passing second he spends with her; whether it's them just talking about nothing or him making her blush, he just finds more of a _like_ in her. More than that, even. He cares more for her each and every time. Every time he sees her, every time he's with her.

She's so alone…

Such a brave soul, and yet, still so alone…

How'd you think he'd react with this news? Well, not exactly 'news' since he's known what's been going on for a while.

_My father…_

or

_My father…_

or

_My father…_

_It wasn't you…it was him_

So was he foolish? To kiss her? To _want _to kiss her? His lips on hers. The way he held her in such an affectionate way…

Were his actions only a distraction?

A fool, because he thought that if only even for a full minute –maybe the whole three minutes they spent kissing, even –was he just absorbed into the way they connected? Forget about the whole situation behind them? Behind his _wanting _to kiss her? The reason because he got to know her. _Know _her_, _know her.

Because her life is way too messed up right now, that that is solely and purely the reason for him wanting to know her more? In hopes that he would've helped her get through this?

Is that why he kissed her? And why he may or may not have been a gullible person in fact to do so?

That with every time she speaks to him, all he can think about is her face?

Those eyes…

Those lips…

Eyes that dance with such blissful innocent warmth color in them,

Lips that speak with a passion. So full, such soft, pale red lips. And that when he finished kissing her, he noticed right away that her blood had rushed to them, making them even more redder and a bit more plumped.

Such a graceful face...

May she not know it though.

…

…..

…..

…

**Okay, so I actually intended for this chapter to be way longer. You see, the thing is that I like writing! I actually **_**love **_**it. Understatement though. I could go on writing for hours non-stop but I realize some of my chapters are too long. And well a lot of times, people get too lazy to read them or just skip over them; or that feeling when you wanna read something but it's just too long that you suddenly don't feel like reading it anymore, so that's why I'm stopping. So please let me know what you thought of this chapter; your thoughts and if you appreciate my long chapters or if you think that I should keep them short? (That's probably impossible for me though) I don't know, please tell me what you think! :] It'd be totally awesome if I could make it up to 150 for the next time I update! :D**


	9. Skin

**Hiiiiiiii ^^Wow, it's been sooo loooong. Like 9 months long :[ I'm really sorry for not updating sooner. I've actually been writing this chapter for months in times I had the chance to, so I haven't forgotten about it! Anyways, I'll be updating more regularly now since I don't really have writer's block anymore. Yay! Okay, here's chapter 9. After reading, please let me know your thoughts on this chapter!**

**Just Watch**

**Chapter 9:**

Skin

…..

….

…

…..

..

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

The guy's fist wouldn't stop delivering the blows right to his victim's stomach as the two other bigger guys held the boy tightly by both his arms, making it seemingly impossible to escape their hard on grasp.

"Had enough?" The guy says amusingly towards Fang. After a small while of recovering his breath from all the heavy jabs, Fang looks up at him and musters up all his saliva and sends it sky rocketing right to the guy's face. Despite his fatigue, Fang still manages to smile a little, finding the guy's facial expression amusing.

The boy snarls.

"Didn't...-" he keeps punching Fang right in the gut. Fang doesn't even groan though. Nothing leaves his mouth. It's as if he just willingly lets them punch him without revealing any signs of pain.

"-think...so!"

Both guys finally let go of Fang and he falls to the ground, panting out on all fours. He looks up at all the men looking down at him; he wipes off his blood from his lip with his hand and slowly stands up, breathing in and out heavily; his chest noticeably heaving.

They know the message was certainly received, though Fang himself know it or not. These guys just assume with the beating they've given him, he won't be messing with the man who paid them any longer.

"C'mon guys...he's had enough...lets just go" The guy, about 20, says while grabbing his cigarette pack out from his pocket while holding a smug smile plastered on his face, obviously very amused the state Fang is in now. Fang's glare never leaves this guy, not even for a second as he keeps starring at him with his bruised and pink eyes.

"Yeah...wish that old fart paid us more though...just 50 bucks...meh" One guy states. Fang turns his attention to the guy who just spoke out.

"Ol' bastard was cheap, he wanted 30 but we got him for 50" another guy with shaggy blonde hair concludes, hands in pockets.

"Oh, quit your whining...money is money! Besides, we get to beat up wimpy ass kids like this one and get _paid_ to do it?" The leader from earlier who was punching Fang grins at the thought.

He heard everything though.

Fang definitely heard everything these guys just said. They all just assume Fang's too weak to comprehend what they're saying since he's now sitting on the floor with his back against the wall and his head arched back.

He spits out blood mixed in with his saliva; it looks all bubbly on the ground and he grimaces at the taste.

"Heyyy..." Fang slurs out, thrown on the ground. Sweat drips down the tips of his bangs and onto his face. He squints at the too harsh sunlight because of the sensitivity of his bruised eye.

One of the guys suddenly hears him and turns around.

"What this freak hasn't had enough?" He looks at all his men and they give cynical smiles to each other.

"Hey dude, we just got paid to beat him up...we don't really know him, he's not in an enemy gang or anything...he's probably just some bratty wimpy kid who...I don't know...-" the guy gestures with his hand,

"-sneaks around with that old fart's daughter, ya know? I think we should just leave him be..."

The leader looks at one of his friends and nods while looking over at the weak boy thrown on the floor.

"Yeah...he's really pathetic, huh?" He laughs it off and they all join him.

Suddenly, Fang starts to feel something. Something in him instigates itself all over again. Something that left ages ago. His anger starts to temp up. He knows that he's all weak and shouldn't really go back to start another fight with them again, even though they're the ones who started it, but he doesn't care. He stands up and loses his balance a little and finds support by leaning onto the brick wall.

"I said _HEY!_ Can you hear me you pieces of fucks!" He yells over at them but still using the wall for support as one of his shoulders lean on it.

As they're walking away, all five suddenly stop in their tracks because of what Fang said.

"The hell did he just say?" The leader of the five guys says, seeming pissed. He drops his cigarette.

"Huh. We got paid to mess his face up but now that he really wants a fight how could we refuse, right boys?" He smiles at them and they all return the smile and start walking up to Fang.

"Guess you probably thought we wouldn't hear you since we were already far away, but if you wa-" His eyes widen suddenly. The guy utters a painful groan, clutching his stomach. He looks up at Fang.

"Little bitch" He says, groaning in pain. Fang picks the guy up by the collar and slams his back onto the wall, taking him by surprise.

"What the hell did you say before? About some guy paying you? Tell me!" Fang hisses out with anger.

"Piece of shit, you don't make me talk" The leader says with a sharp raspiness to his voice as Fang's hands are clutching too hard onto his shirt collar he's nearly strangling the guy.

"Talk!" Fang slams him onto the wall again.

"Answer the que-" He stops as one of the guys tackles him and starts to repeatedly punch Fang in the face. Given the disadvantage, all Fang can do now is protect his face with his arms in front of him. A much bigger buy, about 250 pounds, grabs Fang by the back of his shirt and nearly picking Fang up off his feet, throws him onto a rusty and broken fence. Fang's body moves so fast up in the air and crashes against the fence all in under a second that he can barely make out what just happened to him. His eyes close involuntarily all he can feel now is a sharp piercing sensation to his lid. He gives out a sudden and unexpected gasp full of pain that he actually startles the guys. He stands up, with eyes still closed and careful of his movements. He wraps his hand around the fence railing with a force so tight, the grainy surface of the rust starts digging into his palm, scraping it. The other guys just stare at him as his other hand reaches for his hurt eyelid and he carefully and very slowly tries to pull out a small piece of fence wiring that went right in and out through his eyelid's skin, piercing it like fabric with a needle. He grunts and realizes he's doing everything wrong and just increasing the pain so he stops and places his hand he was using on the fence. All four young men begin to approach Fang but their leader motions for them to stop because he finds Fang's situation interesting and wants to see what he does.

Fang breathes in and out, trying to calm down from the painful sensation. His hands grip tighter onto the fence and with a force so strong he just forcefully throws his head back and upwards, going against the pressure of the fence instead of with it like he was trying to before. Blood automatically spews out into the air and onto the fence and grass. Well, at least this method turned out to be more effective. Extremely and horrendously painful...but effective. He takes a couple steps back before falling. Fang gasps as one of the guys grabs Fang by the back of his hair and slams it against the grass, making his neck move way too fast. He grabs Fang's hair again and lifts his head up seeing as Fang didn't get back up. He assumes Fang is unconscious by now from shock. Fang's lids are halfway closed and his lips parted. His lips are bloody and his white teeth are now stained with red as blood drips from them. Fang receives a kick to his abdomen, making him grunt. The guy then throws himself at Fang, elbowing him in the stomach. Blood automatically flies out of Fang's mouth due to such force.

"What's wrong, too much, huh punk?" He laughs at him. Fang looks back up at him, spitting out blood and looks back up to the guy. Much to the twenty year old guy's surprise, Fang sends him a half grin and shows him his middle finger.

"Who-" Fang falls down to his knees, gripping his abdomen.

"-Hired you?" Fang asks, trying his best to stand up again. His vision is now blurred and he's only seeing with one eye as the other is closed as blood trails down from it.

The guys start to laugh, "Oh man, this guys retarded!"

"He just doesn't understand!" He continues laughing.

"What a stupid re-"

He stops mid sentence as Fang delivers a blow to his cheek. The guy falls back onto his butt and luckily for him, lands onto a huge pile of black garbage bags. Fang throws himself at the guy and punches him again and again. The guy grunts out each time Fang hits him with his hard fist. His face is now just as bloody as Fang's. He doesn't hold back. There is nothing Fang holds back. He puts all his anger into what he has, messing the other's face up. Fang grabs the guy forcefully by his shirt and drags him off the garbage bags, tossing him onto the hard gravel. He grabs the guy by the back of his shirt before he has time to recover from all of Fang's heavy blows. Fang stands and pulls the guy's shirt up over his head and kicks him in the back. He slams onto the brick wall, his nose making a cracking sound. The guy screams out in pain but Fang shows no mercy and only slams him again and suddenly holds him in an arm lock as he surrounds the guy between the wall and his body.

_5 minutes later_

Fang starts to get tired after about the tenth punch and just starts to breathe very heavily. That's when he's dragged out from on top of the guy who keeps laughing at him. They throw him right back on the ground, playing with him as if he were a rag doll. All five start to kick him right on his back and stomach.

"You like that? Huh? Little piece of fucken white boy trash!"

All Fang can do right now is stay in fetal position, covering both his head and face. Through the small opening of light from the crevice formed from bending his arm, he sees an escape and decides to make a plan to run for it. He pushes one of the guys back, making him land on another. Three of them start to chase him down the empty street and they don't give up anytime soon. Fang stops in a hidden corner where he sees a water fountain located right in the back of a store. He splashes water on his face as fast as he can and wipes it with his shirt. He starts running again as soon as he hears the others. While he runs, he lifts the hood of his zippered sweatshirt up over his head to conceal his face and makes his way down the street.

"You little prick, we'll 'effin kill you!" One of them shouts.

"Scumbag!"

Fang, however doesn't reply back or insult them. Instead, he tries to keep his mind clear and just keeps running forward to where he can find a safe place, preferably one full of people so that if in case the others do catch up to him they'll back down to not start a whole riot in front of everyone and possibly get arrested. Everywhere he runs to, he gets weird looks, however. Some feel sorry for him and are in shock of seeing this poor boy all bruised and beaten, yet to still have the strength to run for his life. Others...assuming from his clothes, just think he's a punk who tried to steal and got beaten as a result and disregard it. They look at him as if he's contagious and carries the plague with him. Passing through a beautifully adorned part of town, he places a hand on top of a white shiny railing, encrusted with beautiful Greek god designs and adorned with bright colored flower vines.

"Hey!" A lady yells at him, obviously pissed that he's using her 'pretty' railing as support and staining it with his bloody and dirt stained hands. He doesn't even turn his head to give her the time of day though, just backs away from her as she yells at him. He starts running yet again, making small stops here and there to regain his breath.

He's grateful people can only see his face and not his body. They would probably call 911 right on the spot upon seeing him in his condition.

...

_4:38pm_

He finally reaches a house. His house. He just hopes his parents aren't home to see the condition he's in. He doesn't want to take any chances though, so instead he decides to climb in through his bedroom window. He waits a while though, waiting for a woman and her dog to pass by so she won't think he's a burglar trying to sneak in from the upstairs window. The lady takes the curb and disappears. Fang turns to make sure she's really gone and then runs up the conveniently placed tree and starts to climb, wincing a bit due to his abdomen muscles stretching too harshly. He always keeps his window just a little bit opened, knowing there'd be a time when he'd need to do something like this.

...

He sighs, both of relief and pain as he throws himself on his bed, his face to the ceiling. He tries to turn but winces and clutches his right abdomen and stays in place. He does it again though in order to get up. He trips a little over his own feet and walks to the bathroom, turning the lights on. He can't help but squint due to all the ten massively bright light bulbs aiming right to his injured eye. He forces his eyelid open with one hand and sees his eyeball has a pink flushed color to it. Luckily though, he discovers that the drops of blood aren't from his actual eyeball but instead just from the eyelid skin being torn apart a little. He recalls just totally and unwillingly going into a full 360 degree twist, falling God knows where. He does know that the sharp edge of the cut-open and dirty fence aimed right to his skin and tore it, forming a slit. He'll definitely be needing stitches. This can only mean one thing. Obviously, his parents are going to have to find out. Obviously.

He turns the bathroom lights off and still all dirty, covered in a bit of mud, dirt, blood and dust goes right back to his bed. He doesn't lie down though, instead he just sits and his mind wanders, thinking back to what one of those guys had said earlier.

_"Yeah...wish that old fart paid us more though...just 50 bucks...meh"_

_"Oh quit your whining...money is money! Besides, we get to beat up wimpy ass kids like this one and get paid to do it?" _

"They got paid to target me?" Fang asks himself, so confused now.

Then a thought strikes him. One of the guys did mention the man who paid them was 'old' so maybe just _maybe_ it was Max's...

Who else would it be? Fang has no other enemies. Well, 'adult' or 'old' enemies that is...

His hands coil up and turn into balls of fists, clutching the bedspreads.

"That...ffffffuuuck" He says with clenched teeth. He wishes to go all ballistic now. To wildly and carelessly throw everything everywhere. Just grab whatever he can and throws it towards the wall. Scream out to the top of his lungs, till they explode, till he collapses from exhaustion. Anything...anything to get rid of this sudden and unpredictable anger hurling through his whole body right now.

What can he do though?

A while ago, he was told he had to learn to exercise a way to control his anger and just let it calmly flow out of him not lash out violently in the way he wishes for it to now.

He slumps on his back and takes his shirt off. Wanting to go to sleep now, Fang unwillingly stands and forcefully, practically drags himself over to his closet to grab his towel and throws it all the way over to his bathroom floor. He unzips his pants and immediately heads into the shower.

...

_6:58 PM_

Fang takes his shirt back off over his head wondering why he even put a shirt on to begin with. Now all clean, he crawls underneath his covers and even covers his head so not even his face shows if his parents just happen to walk into his room.

"..."

A familiar noise is heard and he just knows it's Max's dad whose car is pulling up into the garage. He takes a peak out from under his black bedspreads and grabs his phone, glancing at the time.

_7:25 PM_

He puts it back down and shuts it off, not wanting to be interrupted by any calls. He just assumes Iggy's going to phone him since he does everyday.

Well, almost.

…

A few hours later and he is still listless, just hiding under the covers and doing nothing but looking into the dark atmosphere he's created himself underneath the thick layers of fabric on top of him.

Minutes later, he hears the sound of dishes clattering against each other. And forks.

Dinnertime.

He just hopes he won't be called down to eat. His attention is turned towards his window as he once again takes a peak out from under the covers to look with his undamaged eye over at the sight. He hears voices outside. Of young people...teens. There's always kids out at this time around his neighborhood, just walking everywhere. Dog walkers too, mostly groups of teens though. Iggy's neighborhood is more reserved; much calmer due to the fact his parents live in a mostly elderly gated community since they enjoy their quiet and privacy.

Now Fang hears the ever so lasting harsh and abrupt sound of a car alarm. It doesn't stop. It continues till Fang starts to get pissed and closes his eyes with his brows furrowed in annoyance. He covers his head with his pillow, muffling out the sound a bit.

At last, the noise stops. And so does the one downstairs. He's just glad that no one called him down to eat. He's literally starving but just doesn't want to cause any trouble right now.

...

_2:42 AM_

A sweating Fang wakes up abruptly from his sleep and groans out involuntarily as the harsh movement makes his sides and stomach contract painfully. He places his hand on his stomach area and grimaces. He gets up and finally goes to the mirror. Sure, he took a shower but that doesn't exactly mean he stood in front of the mirror naked and looked at his body to see the injuries. He turns on the light, and looks away from the bulbs. Once accustomed to the harsh light, he turns to his huge mirror and his gaze immediately falls to his chest. His jaw almost drops open, _almost_, but his lips do part from such shock his eyes are witnessing right now. It's bad. It looks really bad. It's as if the lower half of his torso was covered in paint. All he sees is red and pink and green and blue and purple everywhere. Some faint spots on his back as he turns but definitely most of the attention is on his stomach and side area.

He's definitely relieved that it doesn't feel as bad as it looks. Sure, it hurts to get up and to walk since his legs are probably also bruised but anyone who'd see his bare chest would think he's experiencing hell and he's...well, he's glad that that is not the case. That and the fact that he's highly able to tolerate pain so he won't be screaming out and whining like a total crybaby anytime soon.

Back to bed it is.

...

_Morning before school, 7:39 AM_

His door creaks slightly open. He hears his curtains running in opposite directions, being parted from one another and a sudden huge ray of sunshine invades through even the deep and dark washed fabric covering him. The person walks up to him and sits on his bed, making a slight springy noise. He freezes for a bit and clutches his covers very strongly to make sure whoever it is_-his mom or dad -_that they won't be able to rip the covers off.

"Sweetie..." Fang feels a hand touch his shoulder.

"You'll be late for school. C'mon, get up lazy boy" she says with humor in her voice as she keeps gently tugging his shoulder area.

"Mmmmm" He groans out involuntarily. His eyes open slightly and he feels flushed for a bit, feeling a little awkward of the sudden weird noise he just made.

"C'mon...don't make me rip these off you" She says, trying to grab the covers away from him. "Fang...I know you don't like that" She soon gives up, since he's a lot stronger than her.

"Alright, enough games...c'mon wake up!" She claps her hands, standing up.

Feeling very lethargic, Fang easily falls asleep and his mind clears as soon as his eyes shut closed.

"Fang!" His mom shouts.

"I'm really not playing this time, I mean it! Wake u-" She gasps and the glass of juice that was in her hand suddenly falls, crashing onto a corner of his nightstand and falls onto the floor, breaking in half.

...

"Hmm?" Fang's dad looks up from his newspaper and puts down his cup of hot chocolate down onto the table. He takes his reading glasses off and starts to walk upstairs.

"Honey? Everything all right? I heard glass" He walks upstairs and sees Fang's bedroom door is opened. He walks inside and sees his wife is full of shock and his eyes widen as soon as he takes in what she's so dazed at. Her hands are covering her mouth and she's in total dread.

"Oh my God, son"

He practically runs to Fang, almost knocking his wife out of the way. She stands behind him, scared of the sight as they both stare at their son's bare back all bruised.

"Mmm...gooo..." Fang groans out.

Obviously, he's way out of it right now and has completely forgotten about the condition of his body right now. A bigger and firmer hand clasps onto his shoulder this time with more force, waking him up again. His eyes open and he hears his mom's gasps and feels someone sitting right behind him.

Also, another thing.

He's bare before them. His covers, he looks from he corner of his eye and sees them on the floor. All his comforters and thin bedspreads no longer protecting him. He blocks his vision from the huge beam of light that's entering in through his window right now.

"My God, son. Tell us what happened" Fang's dad glances back at his wife and sees tears starting to form in her eyes.

_.God._

Fang's eyes widen as soon as he realizes what's going on.

"Don't...look" He mutters quietly and tries to get off his bed but suddenly loses his balance.

Luckily, his dad catches his chest in time but he just didn't realize how bad that specific part he just touched hurts. He winces and tries to go to the bathroom but both his parents stop him.

"No, you lie back down" His dad says gently but on the inside he is freaking out.

"Sweetie, what happened to you?" His mom asks.

"Kids at school? I'll call their parents and tell the principle, I'll have them suspe-"

Out of nowhere, Fang clutches his father's shirt, grabbing his attention.

"I'm...fine"

"You're bleeding!" His mom points to Fang's eye as she looks away, having a phobia of blood.

"I'll be right back, hold on" His dad leaves the room, running.

Fang's mom kneels down and puts her hand on Fang's head, patting him gently and trying to comfort him.

"Then who was it? Who did this to you?" She almost cries out but tries to keep herself contained.

"I...I don't remember" Fang quietly mutters out.

_I don't remember..._is all he can think of to say.

What is he really going to say? That this random group of guys were paid and hired by Ma's father to beat him up just to deliver a 'message' as he remembers one of those guys saying. Now, Fang's starting to get what the message was.

_Stay away from my daughter or you're dead._

Was this man really doing that? Was he really going to do that? Is he really doing this? Hiring some random for all he knows dangerously-skilled-and-armed gang mob to show him what he can do to him? If that's the case, why didn't he just find Fang in a secluded alley and beat him to a pulp up there? When no one else was around. Why go to all the trouble to plan something like this? To find guys of this type and bribe them with money just to indirectly tell Fang to stay away from her daughter.

Maybe the man just doesn't wanna get his hands dirty.

_What a hypocrite_ Fang thinks, though...

Like he's not already shedding blood on his own turf by doing what he does to Max everyday.

_What a hypocrite. A senile devil, son of a-_

Fang's thinking is interrupted as soon as his dad walks back in, running up to him and immediately grabs his damaged eyelid open. Fang grunts out, involuntarily lifting up a hand and places it on top of his dad's arm.

"Calm down son, I'm just checking to see" he says as he inspects his son's eye.

"Thankfully, his eye is okay, I think it's just the lid part that's damaged" He says to his wife.

"I can drive him to the clinic while you go to work" She says in reply, but looking at Fang while gently patting his shoulder for comfort.

"Good idea-" He looks down at his watch. 8:25AM

"Oh, I'm already late. I really can't miss a day of work, not when we're tight on money"

He says to her. She nods understandably. He kisses her cheek and he kneels down on Fang's floor, hugging his son, being careful not to hurt him on accident though.

"I'll be back as soon as my shifts done, okay?"

Fang nods and just watches as his dad walks off. Great, now he's all alone with his mom. He loves her, but her being a little way too emotional sometimes can really irritate him to the point of no return.

"Oh, sweetie" She feels Fang's forehead. She stands up and goes to his closet and finds clean clothes for him to get changed. She spots a nice white graphic tee and gets it down for him along with a pair of dark washed denim jeans. His usual converse and ankle socks. With a hoodie, of course.

"Get changed, sweetheart."

She kisses his cheek and goes out the door, closing it a bit but then comes rushing back in and quickly hugs Fang.

"Sorry" She mutters.

"I'm right here if you need me. When you're finished changing, call me so I can help you downstairs and we'll take you to the clinic for a checkup and to take care of those injuries okay?" She tells him. Fang just nods.

As soon as she closes the door, he immediately lies back down and his mind only goes to one thing. One thing that he really hasn't thought of much ever since he came back all bruised and beaten.

Max.

He starts to think about her.

About what she might think or say if he tells her what happened. He wonders if she'll want to know who did this to him. He also wonders if she'll care enough to ask him.

Maybe even comfort him...

He grimaces, shifting to one side. He really _can't_ start thinking about _those_ kinds of things right now.

"Fang?" He hears a gentle knock on his door and turns to see.

"What? You didn't even change!" She sighs out.

"I feel like I'm taking care of a five year old all over again" She says as she carefully places his white tee over his head and lifts his arms up.

"Thanks" he says all flustered.

She looks down at his jersey shorts that he's wearing and looks back up at him.

"I'm sure you can change the bottom half yourself" She smiles at him, patting his head and handing him his jeans and his hoodie.

"This time, please get changed and do call me when you're finished okay?"

"Yeah" He mutters

"Okay" He adds.

He slips his shorts off easily and grabs the jeans. Thank God they're not skinny jeans, which would be painful for him. He zips up his jeans and grabs his converse and socks.

...

_4 hours later - Drive back home_

"You sir, are definitely not going to school today. Well, it's almost over, but you're not going tomorrow either...or the rest of the week. I really doubt it"

Fang nearly chokes on his juice.

"No, I _have_ to go, you don't understand"

She glances over at him as she prepares him a sandwich.

"Why? You have a secret girlfriend who will be worried if you never show?" She smiles. Fang rolls his eyes.

"You wouldn't ever approve of her anyways" He mutters to himself, sure that she didn't hear a word he just said.

"I'm not a wuss, okay? I don't care what people will say if they see my face like this or whatever, I _need _to go"

She crosses her arms and looks at him.

"Well, quite frankly I don't care what other kids have to say. I don't care about them, I care about you and what you need right now is time to heal. Besides, how do you expect to walk through the crowded halls and participate in physical education with your body like that?"

He shrugs, "Wheelchair"

"Please-" She puts a hand to her chest.

"I never want to see you in one of those things, you're only 17 you shouldn't need those. Just please listen to me, okay?"

Fang sighs angrily in his chair

"Whatever" He blows his bangs upwards, away from his eyes.

"And maybe it's best that Iggy doesn't visit for a while, huh? I know you two like doing physical stuff and well..."

Fang raises an eyebrow

"Great. Now I'm bruised _and_ gay"

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that" She corrects him and continues to make his sandwich.

"I mean you guys sometimes play basketball together or go swimming or tackle each other -I don't know! Whatever it is you boys do, just take it easy okay?"

Fang sighs in reply and she takes that as an _ok_

"And maybe while you're staying here...we could...you know, talk" She grins at him, handing him his plate.

He takes it from her, "Of?"

He raises an eyebrow suspiciously eyeing her.

"Well...anything...school, maybe. We never have time to talk and if we do you always get so moody. I mean no offense, sweetie but you can be such a girl sometimes!" She pats his shoulder.

"What of school?" He disregards her comment.

"Well, I guess I should ask how you're doing but your almost monthly progress reports show that so...how about-"

She grabs a chair and sits closer to him.

"Girls?" She smiles

He rolls his eyes once again.

"I'm leaving-" he says as he slides out of his chair, taking his plate with him.

"You go and the sandwich stays" She says glaring at him. He sighs.

"You might as well braid my hair too. Actually it's been feeling a little messy lately, straighten it for me will you?" He says sarcastically. She crosses her arms at him.

"Fang, I'm being serious. I just don't understand why you're not comfortable talking to me about these things. You probably tell Iggy-"

He interrupts her, "Yeah, that's 'cause Iggy and you...there's a _huge_ difference, you can't even compare the two of you, that's crazy"

...

Ah, finally it is exactly 8 PM and Fang is all alone, now. He decides to go to bed extra early. He feels much calmer now that some pro doc checked him out and did his magical thingy-ma-jig on him. He turns to his side and he notices it hurts less so that's good. His mind once again, wanders off to Max.

He sighs out, wondering why he's thinking about her all of a sudden. Could it be maybe because he hasn't seen her in almost two days? But it's only been two days not two _years_. He chuckles faintly at that thought.

"I'm like obsessed with you and you don't even know it" He says to himself, looking up at his black ceiling, obviously kidding.

Still though, he doesn't stop thinking about her. He wonders if this is what she goes through everyday? Nah. Everyday, this? For the past thirteen years? She'd be dead by now. There's no way.

He remembers covering himself from these guys, lying in total fetal position and only protecting his head and face. He remembers feeling so angry...so wanting to almost _kill _those guys...but then he also remembers feeling scared. As if he was going to die. Beaten to death. He remembers being tossed around one guy to another. Five of them; five big strong guys against one teen. Though he wasn't exactly 'wimpy' like one of them called him, he did put up a fight at one point, but to no avail, because in the end he was no match for all five of them put together that he ended up having to run away. It was the smartest thing he could've done. He's not embarrassed at all at the fact that he ran away from a fight. He's just angry that they beat him up to a bloody pulp. And even angrier at that man. Her father. Obviously, he wouldn't have stood a chance against five men unless he were some skilled martial artist. But he's not. Good thing he's a fast runner though. That's probably the only thing that saved him back there. His speed. Definitely not his huge mouth when he's pissed. He just had to tip them off and insult them. He recalls them leaving him alone and walking away but he just had to say something in retort, he just had to insult them which obviously made them pissed.

He remembers his heart racing. One guys fist pounding against his chest over and over and over and over again. Spitting blood from his mouth. The dirty and infected piece of fence wire going right through his eyelid skin as a needle would go right through fabric. The blood splurting out from his eyelid. His knuckles all bruised and that skin lifting up, causing sores and abrasions.

But the one thing...

The one thing he feels most...

The one thing that's not vague at all...

Is the fear.

The fear of dying.

And he knows,

He knows that is_ exactly_ what Max must go through everyday.

His hands hold very tightly onto his pillow. He buries his head deep into it. His comforters aren't covering his topless body. Right now, all he's using is his pillow.

Funny though, he's never once in his lifetime thought he'd ever seek such comfort from a pillow. Such a silly, inanimate object.

And he clutches it even harder the more he thinks about her. Until he falls asleep.

Anxious to see her. Her face.

_3 days later..._

"Son, where do you think you're going?" His dad asks him as he sets his mug down and looks at Fang all the way from the living room computer.

"You can't go to school yet, you know that right?"

"I'm missing so much work already, plus the teachers aren't that nice" Fang says, walking up to his dad

"But how are you feeling?"

He shrugs, "Better"

"Can you even walk in a straight line?" He asks with concern.

"Yes" Fang replies, starting to become annoyed.

His father sighs out and gives a _fine, you win_ kind of look.

...

He approaches the school doors, grabbing one of the metal handles to make his way inside. He pauses halfway through his actions and lifts his hoodie up over his head. Lots of kids are already there. He stops walking for a moment and takes out his phone from his jean pocket and turns it on, checking the time. 7:49 AM

"Great" He mutters under his breath sarcastically since he really wanted to arrive early to avoid people. He doesn't really care what they might think or say behind his back but he just doesn't want any annoying people asking him directly what happened to him. That's the most annoying thing ever to him, he just wishes they could all mind their own business, he doesn't care if they talk about him just if they talk _to_ him, because that would require an answer. Even if it's just a roll of the eyes.

He puts his phone back and continues walking towards his locker. A group of girls see him and one of them nods to him, making her friends look back at him. He's aware that lots of the girls have crushes on him and care for him because they like him but other girls at his school are just plain nasty towards him. And he has lots of direct experiences from the past to prove it.

He stops waiting for a crowd coming out from a classroom to pass since there is about ten. Must be an early extra curricular activity team. Fang stays there, waiting impatiently for them to pass as he stays stationed , leaning on someone else's locker.

"Excuse me" A shy seeming girl says quietly to him, he hears her though. After all, how could he not? He's quiet too. He always notices the quiet ones. That's how he noticed Max. He moves, realizing he's leaning on her locker. He turns around suddenly and one of the guys, _big_ guys, accidentally elbows him in the ribs as he makes huge exaggerative gesture to his friends, probably telling jokes and whatnot.

Fang tries not to wince and hides his pain with his impassiveness. The guy just glances at him without apologizing and then looks back at his friends, continuing to talk and laugh.

"Jerk" Fang mutters, making his way to his locker.

One of the classroom doors right beside his locker swings open, startling him for a bit.

"Alright class, come in" The teacher says to her students. Some are sitting with their backs against the class wall, talking to their friends and others just standing in groups near the room.

Fang unlocks his locker and takes all his books he needs out, stuffing them into his messenger bag.

The teacher keeps the door open, waiting for all her students to go inside

Fang approaches and he hears a sudden gasp, he looks at his female teacher

"What happened to you, Fang? Are you alright?"

"Mrs. Bock, can I borrow some tape, my pencil bro-" He stops talking suddenly at the sight of Fang.

"Oh! What happened to your face?" He says in shock with huge eyes.

"Are you alright? Will you be able to see the board easily? I know you sit in the back, do you want to change sea-"

"Mrs. Bock! Guess what I heard the principle…."

His teacher finally turns her attention away from Fang and looks to another teacher, as they begin talking.

"Quiet down, class" She sticks her head in the class and then gets back to finishing her conversation with the other teacher.

Fang mentally thanks the other teacher for interrupting their 'almost' talk.

"Hey, what happened to your face?" The same kid asks him as he walks into the class.

Some kids glance at him and back at their friends. He even hears a laugh or two towards him.

He ignores it though, not caring and continues to walk to the back, approaching his seat.

"Did you like get beat up by the jock guys?" The same brunette haired annoying kid sits in an empty desk in front of Fang and looks at him with curiosity while fiddling with his pencil.

Fang glances the other way and notices a Goth looking girl starring at him.

"One of my cousins got beat up..." She says to Fang.

"He _died"_ She says, giving him a creepy eyeball stare. Fang gives her a look like she's crazy and then just stares at the empty surface of his wooden desk.

"He doesn't talk much" A guy next to Fang whispers to the other two students who tried to instigate a conversation with him.

"Weirdo" A girl whispers to them, looking towards Fang. The guy holding his pencil laughs at her comment and nods.

Fang bangs his head on his desk, sighing out. He really can't wait till school is over, _this _class, preferably.

_One hour later, finally..._

"Hey, do you wanna sit with us?" Someone asks him. He looks away from his books and looks at the person from head to toe. She clears her throat, trying to get his attention.

"Who_...who_ are you?" Fang asks, putting his books away into his locker but giving her half of his attention.

"I'm Sarah, umm...my friends and I just wanted to know if you wanted someone to sit with in lunch?" She says to him. He looks over her shoulder and sees the friends she's talking about, two guys and four girls. Some act like they don't care, the guys mostly. The girls thinks he's cute looking all roughed up.

"Why would I wanna sit with you?" Fang asks her, crossing his arms and shuts his locker, now leaning against it.

"Uhh-" She says

"Is it maybe because my face looks like this?" He points to himself and gives her a questioning look.

She looks a little taken aback and gulps. After a bit, Fang realizes he probably could've been a little less harsh towards her and toned his voice down. He looks down to his shoes.

"Look, I don't know you and you don't know me-"

"I know your name" She smiles at him.

"Fang, right?"

He gives her a look like she's the stupidest person on the planet.

"Look, I don't wanna be mean or whatever, but admit it, you just feel sorry for me cause of what I look like but you shouldn't care...you wouldn't even ask me if I didn't look like this, so just..." His voice trails off and he turns around, starting to walk away.

"What a dick" One of the girls says as the group walks the other way.

"Whatever, we just thought he was hot" Another says to them, obviously all of them thinking he can't hear them.

"Duuude!" Someone shouts in total happiness. Before he even realizes it, Fang is body slammed against a locker and then pinned down on the floor and someone over him. He grips his sides in pain. They get up and Fang is extremely pissed thinking it's some random jerk. He clutches his fists, now on all fours and facing the floor about to give them a surprise fist punch.

"What the-" He stops and his sudden anger fades as he realizes who it is. They take one look at him

"Hell?" They finish the sentence, surprised just as much as Fang is.

"Dude, what happened?" Iggy asks, grabbing Fang's arm, helping him get up.

"I've gotta tell you, not a fan of those body slams" Fang says.

"I'm really sorry" Iggy says with total worry in his voice. He takes a good look at Fang's face.

"Who did this to you? What happened? Tell me" He places a hand on Fang's shoulder. Fang doesn't respond though, just looks at Iggy right in the eye. Iggy bends down, picking up Fang's books off the floor and carries them with him as they start to leave the area.

"Just some guys...I don't even know _who_ they were, but..."

"But? But what?" Iggy asks very anxiously. Both boys start to walk through the halls.

"Nothing" Fang murmurs, quickly checking to see if his phone is still in his pocket.

They both pause their walking and a sudden awkward feeling is in the air

"Well..." Iggy says, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Tell me what I can do for you, bro" He adds.

"I'm fine, really. You don't have to do anything" and he continues walking.

"But...oh...well, okay I guess. Wait but I'm your best bro dude, c'mon...you don't think this totally pisses me? Like how many guys did you take on?"

"Five" Fang mutters, a bit embarrassed because although he knows Iggy cares for him, he really doesn't want him to feel such sympathy for him. It makes him feel pathetic.

"What?" Iggy shouts in dread, grabbing Fang's shoulder.

"Please tell me you at least didn't just let them beat you up like that, you fought back right? Ugh, I hate this. I should've been with you" He says angrily.

"No, it was after school so-"

"After school? That makes it even worse! I went home early that day for a dentist appointment...ugh, my mom made the appointment...my stupid mother!" Fang puts a reassuring hand on Iggy's shoulder and looks at him, mentally telling him that he's okay.

"I would've fought with you, man" He says now calmly to Fang, looking back at him.

"I know. Look Iggy, " He takes a step closer to him.

"Out of all-" He stops himself as he catches sight of one specific person he's been so anxious to see all day. Max.

They didn't have any classes together today and he didn't even bother going inside the cafeteria so that's probably why he hasn't seen her all day.

Iggy notices Fang's sudden distraction and looks back.

"You wanna talk to her?" He asks. Fang nods.

"Okay, well...see you later then…but still, call me if you need me" Iggy says, backing away slowly. Fang smiles towards him, chuckling a bit. Iggy looks at him in question. Fang recalls his mom saying that maybe it'd be best for Iggy to not come over for a while.

"It's nothing, go" Fang says in an unexpectedly lighthearted manner towards Iggy. But Iggy just smiles back at him and turns around, walking off. They part ways so now Fang decides to approach Max. He still sees her. She's sitting down on a five foot concrete wall along with a few other students; neither instigate conversation with her though, _much_ to her liking. Her back is to Fang, but he notices she looks like she's writing something down. For a moment, he pauses and becomes a bit nervous, not knowing what to say to her. He remembers when they last spoke, back at Iggy's house. Well, Iggy's car that is. The drive back home among the three was just plain awkward. He remembers him kissing her and her kissing him back. He also remember him _grabbing_ her and deepening their kiss. But then he also remembers their scene up in the bathroom. He got so furious when he saw the hidden bruise on her chin underneath her makeup that he wiped off.

He shakes it off though; all he wants now is to have the courage to try to talk to her. Fang certainly doesn't know why he feels so..._weird_ to be around her now.

He clears his throat, finally having the guts to reach her, now only a good two feet away from her back. For a brief moment, however, he doesn't speak.

_She still hasn't noticed you; you can back down now while you still have the chance…_he thinks to himself.

He shakes his head slightly, rendering off his thoughts. He takes one gulp and quietly breathes out. His hands are totally shaking but he coils them into fists inside his jean pockets to calm himself.

"Hi"

He finally says, standing behind her. She looks up from her book suddenly, realizing the voice. Slowly, she begins to turn her body around to now face him instead. She bites her bottom lip, and only for a second thinks of what to do. Fang's lips part slightly as he's about to speak out but she interrupts him. Much to his surprise, she jumps off and _hugs_ him, practically throws herself on him forcing him take a step back from the sudden weight. Her slim arms wrap around his waist and her cheek now feels warm against his chest. She realizes though, looking down at his arms that they are not hugging her back, instead just at his sides. She looks up, seeing the expression on his face. Max suddenly lets go of him, feeling flushed that he didn't return her hug. She would've liked it if she found his arms wrapped around her back. Just like they were the other day when he embraced her with a passion so _so _strong. It was such an intimate moment, just between the two. For no one else to find out about. This time, however, all he does is look at her with confusion. Indeed, he is surprised. At the very least, he thought she'd only send him a smile. Fang's impassive nature was certainly caught off guard, as he definitely wasn't expecting this. His eyes are slightly widened but they return to their normal self in a short while. But she is just as surprised as he is; she realizes he's looking at her with suck shock that she suddenly feels like an inferior and takes a step back from him. Max looks down at the concrete, her eyes not wanting to meet his.

Fang says nothing to her, deeply hoping that she'll try to instigate the conversation instead. He's looking at her intently though. _Very_ intently. Both arms lie at his sides and he neither sighs out nor clears his throat. He just stands there, all calm and recovered from their small moment they just had. A sudden bright orange object flashes by the corner of Max's eye, catching her attention. She looks past Fang's shoulder, eyeing the girl with the heavily bright colored shoes, tracking her with her eyes till she reaches the end of the block and makes a turn, disappearing. That's all she does. And Fang's impassive gesture certainly doesn't help her. If anything, it only makes her more nervous and weary of his presence right in front of her. Max breathes out, a little more heavy than usual. She knows he's still looking at her though. She can feel his dark eyes piercing right through her. She dare not look up, because heaven forbid, it'd be a glare he's throwing her way.

Though there's really no logical reason he should be mad at her.

She clutches the sleeve of her light gray hoodie with her other hand slowly...very slowly, and begins to look up at him.

Her lips part as their eyes meet and she can't even look at him in the eye. Instead, her gaze falls to other parts of his face, his right cheek to be exact. It's somewhat bruised, but just a bit. Her eyes then fall to his eyelid area. It is then that a very small gasp leaves her mouth that she's unsure of whether or not Fang heard her.

She looks up at his stitches.

Her hearts starts pounding suddenly and when she sees him the only thing she can truly see, right now for the time being is herself.

A Max.

She feels as though she's starring right into a mirror and her reflection is being laid upon her. Her heart starts aching and she feels herself internally sweating. A bit lightheaded, you can say. Without thinking, she reaches an arm out and is about to place a palm on his chest. She stops half way to reaching her goal though. Fang stares down at her hand, giving it close attention. He looks at her beautiful, pale slender fingers. He then looks at the fading scars on her hand. They were about to touch him. Fang looks back up at her, his face no longer emotionless. He looks her right in the eye. He too, however, is at a loss of words.

_Who... _she thinks

_Who would do this to him?_

The more she looks at his bruised eye, the more she starts to hurt inside and the more she starts to sweat and feel a hot sensation just swirling throughout her whole body. She glances up at the sun, squinting a bit.

It's not that hot out. It's just her then.

Fang wants to though...

To grab her hand that just seemed to freeze right then and there as if time stopped. He wants to_ grab _her hand. He wants to hold it right now. So tightly, in his. He wants to carelessly intertwine his fingers with hers without there being any awkward sentiments behind it. He wants her to touch his chest. He wants her to do what she did just a few moments ago, to_ forcefully_ grab him into a hug. And while it was out of such force, while he surely wasn't expecting it, he did indeed like…no, _love _it and it wasn't out of his own unwillingness to hug her back that he didn't. He was just surprised, that's all. He didn't mean to, he truly didn't mean to make her feel in such an uncomfortable manner. God forbid, she thinks that he just plainly and willingly_ rejected_ her_. _Because he did no such thing. Because he liked that force. That force that he seemed to underestimate her about. No amount of cloth over his body can defeat the Godly sensation of her fingertips touching his chest.

The idea of this makes him all calm all of a sudden. He starts to feel all warm inside.

And although they are still near school grounds and several other students keep passing by them full of laughter and gossip, they feel as if they're the only two there.

Him standing right in front of her.

Her standing right in front of him.

_That_ is what makes him warm. The idea that she was almost going to touch him. The sensation you get when you can be anywhere, any place in the world and someone you care for, someone in your life that's important to you starts gently playing with your hair or rubbing your back, giving you gently and soothing motions all over your body. You suddenly don't care where you are anymore. That feeling when you just want to sleep and suddenly all the weight on your shoulders lifts off. That sudden feeling of protectiveness…that such high _warmth_…when your heart starts to melt. That feeling of unexplainable happiness. As if you're sleeping on a cloud.

It can be the best feeling in the world.

_That_ is what he feels right now...the presence or even just the action that she woke...the _thought_ of it makes him feel sleepy.

He looks back up at her face though, looking into her eyes. By coincidence, she looks back up at the same time and her eyes widen just a bit. He notices though.

_Who would do this to Fang?_ she repeats.

Though she may be looking into his eyes finally, her mind is somewhere else. She closes her eyes and takes a step back, almost losing her balance, causing him to naturally move forward a bit since he thought she was about to fall. He would've grabbed her hand to stop her.

Her hand is still covering her mouth.

She sees the man. Her father._ Beating_ her. Letting her bleed.

It's all just too much for her to take in and she soon lets out an involuntary high pitched inhale. His brows furrow and he looks at her with a face of pure anxiety.

"Ma-" He mutters, slowly moving towards her. She takes a few steps back, making him stop.

"Ugh, watch it" A girl casually mutters as Max shoulder bumps her by accident.

"Ssss..." Max intends to say _sorry_ but cant seem to. The girl keeps walking and then glances at Fang and her friend along side her. Max notices the girl looks at Fang quickly and then at her friend, whispering something into her ear. Her eyes also land on Fang but as soon as Fang glances at them, they begin to walk away. Fang looks back at Max all speechless. Max looks past his shoulder and sees the brunette haired friend of the other girl whom she shoulder-bumped a bit harshly look back at Fang. He can't see the girl since his back is now to them. He couldn't care less of what anyone has to say _about _him though, as long as they don't ask him questions about what happened to him directly.

"S-stop..." Max mutters a bit quietly that no one else hears her...except Fang, that is.

"Wha-" Fang starts to speak up thinking Max said that to him.

She interrupts him,

"Stop looking at me!"

She yells over to the other two girls with such wild impulses coursing throughout her blood. Her bangs fall over her face and her eyes are widened slightly with her brows much furrowed. Her jawbone is clenched and if you look close enough, you can see her veins just pulsing as they look like ivory snakes on her neck. Max keeps looking at them with such wrathful venom injected into her eyeballs. Slowly, they grow red from purely her own volition of having much vindictive anger towards them. Both girls look back and one of them glares at Max but shoves it off a moment later and the two friends laugh.

"Max..." Fang finally speaks up using a complete word. What he witnessed just now totally beyond frightened him.

Other students look at Max. She knows what they're thinking. She knows what's going through everyone's head at this moment.

She's crazy.

She's just a crazy girl.

_Crazy bitch._

_I always knew there was something weird about her._

_I heard she killed her own mother._

_Disgusting emo girl. She should go kill herself._

_Who does she think she is?_

_SERIOUSLY, GO DIE ALREADY!_

Though all everyone around her does is give her looks –different looks – dirty ones, pitiful…_sorry_ ones…crazy ones…even ones full of humor, as if they actually find someone else's pain so hilarious….

Nobody says anything.

Not. One. Word.

She doesn't know what others are thinking. She does know, however, that everyone thinks less of her now than they all did before. That their assumptions and theories finally concluded to be true as she screamed out that one sentence and with that look on her face. She finds it no surprise of the looks they throw her way. The first day she transferred to this high school people were nice to her. They tried to get on her good side, naturally. Some, by nature, just were cruelly and purely _mean _towards her, but never showed it to her face though.

She never became the 'it' girl, never became the popular one. The pretty one who all girls were jealous of. Never became the girl next door, the girl who would like everyone's attention and act so kindly towards everyone. She never became the girl who didn't have any enemies.

Eventually, through time, she made her own image. And with the help of on one. She didn't have to become popular through a specific group of girls. She didn't have to become the 'teachers pet' who always got beyond excellent grades and therefore gained respect through the teachers. Never dated a jock.

She never did any one those things.

Who is she is vastly misunderstood for _who she became. _Upon her transfer to this school, nobody knew her. Nobody knew her name. Nobody knew the Max that Fang now knows.

And with time…nobody cared to know anymore. Nobody became Fang.

Nobody became the helping hand she so desperately needed. No one became the shoulder for her to cry on.

Nobody knew her.

She was just a girl. A girl going to a new school upon her transfer. A girl with many opportunities. With many chances. Many chances to change who she was into she _is_.

So, slowly, everyone got the memo.

They would never say anything to her face. They would, however, talk behind her back. Always so curious as to her unusual demeanor.

_Who_ she became, unto everyone's eyes…both the students and teachers…_was a lonely girl_.

A weird girl.

A girl that was never _in._

A girl that always excluded herself.

That's who she became to their eyes, eventually. And eventually, everyone dropped interest in her. After a few months of her transferring to this school, everyone started to realize. Girls stopped inviting her over to sit with them in their lunch table. Guys stopped looking at her and wanting to hookup with her.

In their eyes, she became a nobody.

She became invisible.

Something much lower than trash.

_She became dirt._

Nothing but dirt. Dirt that was always in the way. Always there, but never really there. Always a burden. Dirtiness that was always lingering in the air. Dirt that nobody could ever really brush off themselves.

So, in their eyes, she became the girl who always looked hurt. They had their own assumptions. Everyone does. It's only human nature to judge.

Little do they know, however, she did not _become _anything…because this is just who she always was. Who she was all along.

At first, they just thought she was the friendly-but-nervous type who just needed some time to adjust to her new surroundings and before you know it, she'd be the girl who everyone knew and admired.

That never happened, though.

She looks at them all, her eyes moving to all sorts of directions as she scans all the students who are curiously looking towards her. Her eyes look back at Fang and he has concern written all over his face. Concern, for _her._ He clearly saw those two girls curiously point their noses at him and not at her, yet she yells at them to stop looking at _her?_ He's definitely confused.

She makes the same high pitched noise along with a hiccup this time and covers her mouth with her palm. Tears starts building in her eyes and Fang takes a step forward, his arms about to reach out. She realizes his intentions. He probably wants to embrace her to try to calm her down.

_What, does he also think I'm crazy?_

But she just can't just now. She _cant._

"No!" She blurts out, putting both her hands in front of her as a barricade. He stops walking towards her and looks at her with much hurt. Their eyes meet once more and he sees the tears starting to fall down her cheek. She makes a sudden impulse.

She turns around and runs.

One moment she's looking into his eyes. The next, she's gone.

He's so dumbstruck in fact, that he can't even go run after her. His body feels like it's frozen as he is still trying to process exactly what just happened between the two. Looking down at the concrete now -the dirty stains on it- he tries to think what it was he did wrong. A reason in which he would be at fault for. He looks back up and sees her image running away far off into the distance as she makes a turn around the block. He looks back down; really analyzing this time...trying to find out what just happened once more. As soon as her figure fades, students return back to their usual chatter.

"What did..." He says to himself very quietly, sure nobody can hear him.

_What did I do wrong?_ He asks himself, still very shocked and his face clearly showing it.

For once, Fang is truly an idiot.

Be him so clueless.

...

She finally stops many minutes later. She looks up at her door, panting so hard. She notices that her father's car isn't in the park way which can only mean he's still at work. Max starts to sniffle all over again. She wipes her nose with her sleeve. She was so sure that the long run home had rendered off every waiting tear.

She looks to her right, seeing a nice couple jogging by the sidewalk. She sees them running together every Thursday. Her body moves forward as she starts to run towards her door, unlocking it and immediately running up the stairs. She certainly doesn't want to give out a public display of her agony. She runs down the hall and towards her door, bumping into it realizing it's locked from the outside. Max grabs her key from her pocket, unlocking it. She slams the door open, not caring at the moment if it breaks off due to her harshly jamming it. She immediately rushes to her bed and throws herself on it. Max reaches for her pillow and finally starts to relieve her real pain out.

The pain that she can't show anybody else.

Not even Fang.

The pillow absolutely muffles her screams and cries that she doesn't worry to hold back. Her pillowcase soon turns very damp. Her bed, which was so tidy and neat before she came home is now all ruined as the covers and bed spreads are all wrinkly and all over the place. She keeps crying into her pillow, clutching it so hard as she keeps squirming and her shoulders shaking so violently.

Just seeing his face...

Fang's face.

His bruises. His cuts. His scars.

How did he get those bruises? How did he get those cuts? How did he get those scars?

And that's only his face, because she didn't get to see the rest of his body since he was also wearing a hoodie that day, covering his arms from anyone's view.

She looks at her hands and then her eyes trail down to the hidden bruises and cuts on her arms.

_Is this what people see when they look at me?_

_If only for a second, Fang was who I am..._

_A monster. _

No wonder he was wearing a hoodie today. To hide his face.

_This is what people see when they look at me?_

She suddenly holds anger on her face as she remembers the disgusting looks those two girls gave Fang.

"Those _bitches"_ She says, angrily.

"They don't know him..._they don't know me_" her hands form fists and her teeth clenches. She begins huffing out.

Fang's face suddenly appears on her mind and she finds herself losing her tough grip on her pillow. Her anger gradually fades and her facial expression is no longer contorted. Her heavy breaths start to become more shallow and her chest begins to heave normally now.

"3:51" She mutters, looking at her digital alarm clock on her night stand opposite side of her.

_Is that what they feel when they see me?_

_When they look at me...when they just...even for just a second, turn their heads towards me and back, what do they see? Do they see Fang? Is what I felt when I saw Fang what everyone else feels when they see me? And if what Fang said back at the party that everyone at school has noticed why I act so weird and always exclude myself from them...the reason behind being so...do they really not care?_

No.

Of course they don't. It's only natural for humans to act and _feel _this way.

"I've already made my image..." She says, looking at her hand now.

"They know...they know..." and her vision starts to blur as her face starts to contort in that of pain again as she once again, begins to mewl.

_All the horror that I felt when I saw Fang. Yet he looked so calm when he approached me. But I bet...I bet…_

"He didn't feel that way when he was getting beat up" Her brows furrow and a sudden image invades her mind. She imagines Fang getting beat up. Punched, kicked, spit at, thrown on the floor. Bleeding out...

She imagines several obscure black images taking the form of blurry men in her head.

"No. _No!"_ She yells out with such force as if to scare her mind to make it stop planting those ideas in her head. Her eyes are shut so tight and both hands on either side of her head, her fingernails dig themselves into her scalp. Her breathing starts to become heavy again. Her heart rate palpitates. Had she not grabbed her covers so tightly in her fists, her hands would be shaking right now. Involuntary gasps starts leaving her mouth. Her eyes roll back and she starts hiccupping like crazy in between her cries. But the intrusive image soon leaves her mind. Fang getting torn to shreds soon leaves her mind and she feels at ease. Her mind goes white and she focuses on the time that's right in front of her now.

_4:12 pm _She repeats the time in her head

Max tries to imagine a white background in her head to calm herself down. Slowly, her eyes begin to shut once again and her breaths go back to normal once more. The panic attack starts to retreat from it's victim.

6:18 pm

The sound of a door shutting is loudly heard throughout the walls. She recognizes the noise but feels too weak right now to care enough.

"Max!"

Her eyes immediately open wide and she springs up, her chest heaving. She hops to the other side of her bed and opens the drawer of her huge plastic organizing bin that she keeps clothes in. She digs through it, throwing some clothes here and there and finally...

She finds it.

She grabs the knife hiding underneath the big messy pile of unfolded clothes inside the bin and places the knife underneath her pillow.

Just in case.

It's purely out of instinct. To her, anyways.

She gulps and feels her heart starts to abnormally beat faster. She clutches her stomach for a second, feeling a heavy pain but soon disregards it as she notices her door knob starts twisting.

One hand, underneath her pillow...

To protect herself.

Because she's _this_ scared of him.

He barges into her room, her door slamming onto the wall. The sudden intrusion makes her gasp.

"What did I tell you about locking this door?" He looks at her, pissed off.

She nods, "Sorry" She looks down at her lap. All she can think about is the knife.

"Look at me when I talk, dammit" He corrects her.

She immediately looks up. He squints at her and takes a step forward.

As if by instinct, her hand that is under her pillow clutches the small kitchen knife more tightly. She gives him an impassive stare, trying really hard not to show him she's scared right now. By accident, her hand clutches onto the blade's part of the knife and she can feel the sharpness just cutting through her skin. She winces very slightly. He doesn't notice though.

"Your eyes are red. What have you been crying?" He laughs a little.

"You don't know real pain...you've got a home, you've got education and food everyday. So I don't know what the hell you have to cry for, you little ingrate. You don't know true pain, you little shit" He spits out at her. He points to her clothes all over the floor.

"You better pick that up. Clean this room! And you can't go anywhere tonight either, it's a school night" He states, looking all over her room, making sure everything is as it should be.

She nods.

His eyes widen and he lunges himself on her bed making her whimper. He grabs the back of her hair and puts his face close to hers.

"What are you mute or something? Use your mouth when I ask you or tell you to do something. Don't nod like a fucken moron" He threatens her. His voice is sharp, cold venom thrown at her face.

"P-Please" She says, tears starting to trail down her cheeks. She lifts a hand up and gently places it on top of his arm, motioning for him to let go of her hair since the tight pressure makes her scalp hurt.

Much to her pleading, he lets go.

"Don't forget to do your homework. I don't need another teacher calling here telling me you didn't do this assignment you didn't do that...It's only a bother. You don't think I have better things to do than to listen to those idiots ramble on about how you never participate in class? Show me some respect! You fail in school and you fail in life. You're lucky I never _kicked_ you out or you would've been on the streets dying of starvation ages ago!" He gets off her bed and gives her a menacing look.

Max wipes her tears away with the sleeve of her hoodie and nods but then remembers how much he hates that so she speaks out, clearing the dry lump in her throat.

"Yes. Sorry, I'll clean my room and do my homework"

"You better" He suddenly points at her and she closes her eyes, wincing, thinking he was going to hit her. He leaves the room but suddenly stops.

"And don't forget to make dinner! I have a night shift so it better be ready by 7"

He stomps off, shutting the door.

She lets the knife go. Max lifts her hand up from underneath the covers and wipes her bloody palm on her bedspread with intentions of cleaning it with soap and water later. Her face falls into both palms as she soon again starts shedding tears.

Silent ones this time though.

Those are always the most painful.

...

…...

…..

He sighs out, looking at the clear blue sky that's about to say good night in about an hour. His cheek is rested against his palm as he idly leans against his window sill, casually glancing at Max's house once in a while.

_I want to know what you're doing this second_ he thinks

It is rare for them to see each other past school hours. He feels that although indeed they are next door neighbors and their houses are only a good twenty feet away from each other they're so _so_ apart in so _so_ many ways. He lets out another sigh, looking into the direction of her big kitchen window.

"Why do I really wanna know what you're doing right now?" He asks himself, laughing a bit and finding his own anxiety amusing. It's just that he feels so pathetic right now.

_I'm still so clueless as to what I did wrong_

"Max" He says casually in his normal voice. He likes the sound of her name. And he _likes _saying her name. He knows that there are millions probably billions of _Maxs'_ out there.

But when he says her name. _Her_ name. Not Max. Out of all those billions of people, only one...one single image comes to mind.

Max. _The_ Max.

_6:43 pm_

She runs towards the fridge, grabbing the left over rice that she had stored in a plastic container a few nights ago and tosses it into the pan...

_6:51 pm_

"It's really hot" He states, both are in the kitchen dining room. He blows the rice on the spoon a bit and starts cutting his chicken into small strips. She unintentionally stares at the knife he's using to cut it.

"I'm sorry...I was ju- I lost track of time and didn't notice it was almost getting burnt."

"You wouldn't have lost track of time had you done your school assignments way earlier. I told you at 7. I need to go in less than twenty minutes and it's a 15 minute drive. This had _better_ not cost me my job." He complains with such coldness in his voice, not looking at her though but paying attention to his plate instead.

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again" She says, leaning against the kitchen counter looking to his image across from her as he's sitting down eating.

...

His poker face is soon caught off guard as he spots Max in the kitchen walking towards the fridge. She bends down and cleans something. He puts all his attention to her and suddenly doesn't feel bored at all. In a way, this is like heaven to him. Every time he sees her his heart races and he feels so...so..._relieved_ in a way. Relieved because he knows she's okay. He knows she's alive and while not exactly 'okay' she's at least out of harm for that one moment, for that one second that he's secretly looking at her. He feels like every time he sees her he hasn't seen her in years. Every time he sees her outside of school he feels as though it's a once in a lifetime opportunity to be witnessing that girl.

A figure comes up behind her and Fang suddenly tenses up, his heart starts to beat faster out of the blue. Fang stares at him intently, just predicting, _knowing_ her fathers going to do something to her. And angry, because he wont be able to do anything about it; Fang won't be able to protect her.

Fang watches as the man places a dirty plate into the kitchen sink and exchanges words a few words with Max. Much to Fang's surprise, her father doesn't do anything to her, he doesn't even touch her. Fang notices, however, the Max he sees right now. The care-free Max when she's with him is not present at the moment. Fang reads her facial expression and though she may be fooling her father she's not fooling Fang. She's scared. She fears her father. And Fang knows it.

Her father soon leaves and his figure disappears for a bit. Fang watches as his silhouette on the long drapes walk across the room. The front door opens, he notices. Her father gets inside his car and heads off after a small while of organizing something in the front seat. Fang watches intently at his car as it drives off far into the distance until he can't see it anymore. He then turns his attention back towards Max and he sees her staying there in the kitchen. She grabs a sponge and inspects it. She then walks towards the aluminum trash bin right near the kitchen counter and throws out the sponge. She bends down, opening the white door underneath the sink and opens up a new pack of sponges, throwing the plastic packaging away.

His eyes never leave her.

Yes, it's a little creepy. He knows that, for sure. But it's not like he's a perverted old man peeking at a teenage girl. This is _Fang_. He is _friends_ with her, so it's all alright. In a way, it's like he's secretly looking out for her.

He tells himself that in his head every time he realizes he's been starring at her for too long.

Although his gaze is transfixed on Max, his mind soon wanders off. Off to thinking about the previous events that had occurred between them and the two other students at school.

"_Stop looking at me!"_ he remembers her shouting. This still puzzles him though. That very sentence. Although be it an easy-to-comprehend sentence, the _meaning_ behind it is what bothers Fang. They were clearly, _clearly_ looking at him, not at Max, but at Fang. At _him_.

And another thing, why did she cry? He thinks harder this time. Was she crying for him?

_Did she feel sorry for me?_

As much as he doesn't like anyone ever feeling pity for him, he can't help but feel almost _flattered_ in a sense. He knows it's not exactly an appropriate feeling he should feel towards her cries though. But does that mean she cares? She cares for him?

He continues to lean against the window sill. He recalls back to the first day he introduced himself to her. She wouldn't even give him the time of day. All she would do is insult him.

And because of this, he thought of her as a rude girl. His sympathy for her almost left when he found out how bad mouthed she was.

But look at how they are now. He can't stop thinking about her.

He just _cant_

His thoughts are soon interrupted as soon as a loud banging noise startles him. He looks back at Max and sees that she had dropped a pan on the floor. He watches her casually as she picks it up and then heads to clean the table with a white damp cloth. She takes a step to her right, turning the kitchen lights off and a small nightlight automatically turns on, sensing the lack of light in the room. He can still see her though. She opens the fridge once more and seems to be checking something; he's not sure what though. She closes the door yet again and then leans against the door letting out a big exhale. She takes off the blue disposable gloves and throws them into the bin and walks away.

"Don't...go..."

Fang mutters under his own breath, suddenly feeling a sense of emptiness inside himself as soon as she leaves his sight. He wonders where she heads off to. He knows her dad is not home since he saw him leave with his own two eyes.

With Max out of sight, Fang easily grows bored again and goes to sit down on his bed. He grabs his phone from his pocket and glances at the time

7:21 pm

He switches through his contacts and then suddenly realizes something. He doesn't have Max's number.

He definitely wants to ask her next time he sees her.

...

_8:35 pm_

After cleaning her room like she was told to and finishing up her homework, Max decided to take a nice hot bath. Not a shower.

Her father hasn't had many night shifts lately so she thought it'd be a good idea to take advantage of that and make a nice warm bath for herself since _he_ isn't around.

She wakes up from her small nap and her mind automatically takes her back to the events of today in school. Back to Fang.

She grabs her lavender bath sponge and pours some green apple scented body wash onto it and lathers her arms with it. She takes a good look at them. She places one arm back under the water and winces, the stinging pain getting to her since it's a fresh cut. She doesn't know why it still hurts her though. After all, she _should_ be used to this sort of thing by now.

She sits up from her lying position in the tub and leans for her night clothes that are right next to the sink. Few drops of soapy water splash onto the floor as she does so. The object she wants falls onto the rug and she picks it up, now starring at it. She looks down at the knife she was so desperately clutching onto so hard earlier. Max closes her eyes in pensive thought. She opens them again and decides to place the knife in the corner of the tub, not giving it any attention anymore. She closes her eyes once more and grabs a handful of the soapy water, washing her neck with it. Her fingers tap most impatiently onto the edge of the tub and she has come to a decision as her eyes no longer avert the sharp object right next to her. She grabs the knife and holds it under the water. Max makes a small trace on her thigh with her fingers to feel the softness. She clutches the knife harder and traces the part of her inner thigh she just touched with the blade.

_And she cuts it._

She keeps dragging upwards till it reaches the outer lips of her vulva and stops. She drops the knife and it sinks to the bottom of the tub. She tilts her head back but not before looking back down, splashing a few bubbles away to see a light red tint slowly distributing itself throughout the water. She tilts her head back again and gently places her hand on top of the newly made cut that is now on her inner thigh. She squeezes the area of the cut, sending her body shivers throughout. Her chest starts heaving fast again making her breasts appear from underneath the water and then disappear each time. Her nipples harden. Her toes curl as she squeezes her thigh more, letting more blood seep out through the cut. She lets out moans of both ecstasy and agony.

Ecstasy because it brings her great pleasure.

Agony because she _knows_ it's wrong.

She enjoys the pain.

Fang knows her secret.

But _not_ her ugliest one.

"Uhh..." She moans out so innocently with an edge to her voice that no one's ever heard before.

"Ahhhhh" She lets out again still playing with her cut. Her fingertips trace the cut and she grabs the knife once more, tracing the cut and scraping it gently with the blade. Her head rolls back and she blindly searches with eyes closed for the knife in the bottom of the tub. She finds it and runs the knife back on her thigh, creating yet another red crease, causing a very uncomfortable yet so lively sensation. Her hand then continues to fondle with the area of her cut and she squeezes her thigh once more very hard that it practically sends her flying as her final and very wild moan shows it.

A sudden involuntary image appears in her mind.

Fang.

"Fffaaang!" She moans out and as soon as she realizes his name has slithered out of her mouth she stops her peak of ecstasy mid-way through. With the sudden moan of his name, she sits up and her hand lets go of her thigh. She stares at it as if she had just murdered someone with it. She abruptly stands up from the water, sending splashes all over the tile floor and shower wall. She feels disgusted all of a sudden. Not because of Fang, he's not disgusting in the least bit to her at all. But because of what she said.

His name.

Why _he_ appeared in her head all of a sudden.

Why he just unwillingly had to pop up from out of the blue into her head as she was in her moment of experiencing pure bliss. As if he had, without knowing, invaded her most private, most _intimate_ moment with herself.

Tears begin to fall down her face and now she feels nothing but embarrassment. She knows that obviously Fang doesn't know of this small incident but that makes no difference to her because she still can't help but feel so flustered and the fact that her face is really red right now does nothing to help. Max covers her cheeks with her palms, feeling that they are very warm right now. She rushes out of the tub and quickly gets changed and drains out the tub. She turns off the bathroom lights and runs to her bed, throwing herself on it.

That night, she cries herself to sleep…

It's what she does every night.

Though the circumstances this time were different, the outcome is always the same. _Always_.

She cries.

It's what she does best.

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**14,000+ words just for you :] So please review, tell me what you think :] If I get up to at least 174+, I'll update!  
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	10. I'm Already Yours And You Don't Even

**Hiii...long time, no write...I'm sorry :( No, really. A lot of you guys are such loyal readers, your reviews make me happy so when I don't update, I feel bad. And I should. For not updating. :( I'm sorry you guys but here's the long awaited chapter 10 of Just Watch! I know I'm not the best when it comes to updating fast but I hope you guys can continue to support my story and review :) Please let me know what you think of this chapter :D I'll try and get chapter 11 up as soon as I can!**

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**Just Watch**

**Chapter 10 **

I'm Already Yours And You Don't Even Know It

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..

.

There was once a boy. And a girl. Both were so absorbed into their everyday lives and just living life. Until they met...

Upon laying eyes on her, the boy knew she was something special. He fell in love. But she...

Did not.

The boy didn't care however, he kept meddling into the girl's life, just wanting -_aching_ to mean something to her. The same way she meant something to him.

However, once the young man learned that there was a subject #3 in the picture, he lost it. He lost his way.

One day upon accidentally seeing the two kiss,

His world collided.

Because she...

She had been playing him the whole time.

The young man thought of himself as pathetic, as so desperate for not being able to let go of his strong, wanting feelings towards the girl.

He kept loving her.

But he knew...he knew that on the inside, he was just dying to be with her. Dying for her touch.

The boy knew something had to be done about the other boy.

The one the girl was truly in love with.

So he prayed. His prayers were not answered.

He went crazy. Literally. His father sent him to a mental hospital.  
The doctors gave him pills, medicine, bottles and bottles, prescription after prescription after prescription, chemicals and liquids would all enter his body. All for the one chance of glory of possibly and hopefully putting a smile on his face.

One. Measly. Little. Happy. Smile.  
The boy was never truly happy. His mental illness didn't go away. The medicine didn't work.

But, alas, on one fine day once released, he saw her.  
The girl of his dreams.  
From afar distance.  
Dressed in all black, she weeped and weeped.  
And he stared at her with wide eyes.  
And he thought to himself,  
"How long have I been gone?"

He returns home that day.  
A week later at school, he finds out the boy the girl was madly in love with had passed away. Into the heavens he went, for he, was a good soul. And this boy knew that. He knew that boy had many things to give her in life. And this boy, the crazy, sad, lonely, mental kid who has a one-sided love, could give her nothing. Not even a smile.

So he hated him.

Upon learning of that day, he was struck with such shock.  
He wouldn't accept the truth. He needed time to adjust. Time to accept the fact that his prayers, his needs and wants were oh so finally desperately answered.

This boy was the happiest he could ever be.

Subject #3 was out of the picture.

Crazy boy for the win.

...

..  
.

That, however, was not how the rest of the story went, because despite the girl's boyfriend passing, she never fell in love with this lonely boy. She could never love a boy like him.

And he realized that. Through time, though.

So he lost it. Again.

And so, all fell down. Again. Everything went down the drain. Again.

He got so high and drunk one night.

He persuaded the girl to drink with him since he caught her in a lonely state.

And then...

He raped her.

Oh how little did he know, that this was not 'making love'. And the girl knew that.

...

..  
.

Days passed. And passed. And passed.  
Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. Fri- was there even a Thursday involved?  
The boy couldn't even tell. He stopped counting after he ran out of fingers.

And so, he lost it. Again.

More than ever this time though.

It is then that finally about one month later, the girl called him out to meet up with her after school. Sadly, he was so happy. Yes, sadly, because even though the boy knew the girl didn't love him, he was still so happy to be involved -connected- to her in some way.

Finally, the hour came when he had to meet her. And as soon as one stray tear trailed down her ivory colored cheek, he knew. He knew the truth. The true fact that the girl's whole world came crashing down. Right before his eyes. He watched her cry her heart out to him. And her fear. He realized this. And when he did,

His world came crashing down as well.

Again.

Because it was that day, that the boy learned something...

He could never have her. She could never be his.

She was carrying his child. She didn't want to.

She was too good of a soul to settle for abortion so she kept it. Kept up with the stress, problems and agony of carrying a new life inside your body only as an eighteen year old.

That doesn't mean that the boy and girl finally got together. Fell in love. Had the baby. Got married. Carried on. Grew old together.

They didn't.

None of that ever happened.

Because he,

He could never have her.

And he knew that.

Throughout the course of the whole nine months in which the girl carried his child inside her, she went crazy. Just like the boy. She wanted to kill herself. She blamed him and hated him for taking advantage of her that one night. She didn't want to have forced sex with him. She didn't want to have sex with him at all. She never loved him. And when she secretly saw his lonely tears one day while he was all huddled up to himself, she had realized something.

It was all her fault.

For playing him.  
For treating him like a toy.  
For making him think that he was something special to her when in fact...

He wasn't. He was never.

But upon realizing that. Upon knowing the truth, the girl has also realized that it was far too late for regrets and apologies. This was something that forgiveness alone, -a simple word- just could not fix.

Almost a year had passed. One day she walked to his home. Baby in hand. He opened the door to her, with hopeful eyes, still hoping and wishing that she could one day love him.

Those, however, weren't her intentions.

She threw the baby at his feet. Wildly. Didn't even care if the small child's head made contact with the hard floor. The baby started to cry. The girl starred at the boy with bloodshot eyes and screamed at him.  
_"I never wanted this!"_ She cried out.  
_"I never wanted this child!"_ She cried out harder as her voice cracked with each and every breath she took.

With that, the girl ran away.

Because, upon realizing all those things, there was one more and last thing she had also realized...

She could never move on with life having this child by her side.

This child was a rape baby. She didn't want a constant reminder of the fact that she was raped by a crazy and overly possessive non-lover.

She didn't want the child.

So she ran away. But not to her home. Somewhere far. Very far.  
Where she could start over.  
Meet someone else. Fall in love.  
Because she didn't want this life.  
Her parents got overly worried.  
They called the police.  
A team searched for her.

They never found her.

At school, no one knew what was going on. What had happened. Except for the fact that she was pregnant and gave birth. That's when they started calling her dirty names.

Whore. Slut.  
Prostitute.  
Trash.

He, the boy, heard all types of rumors. Rumors saying that she was dead. Rumors saying that she just probably made it to the next state and is living in hiding. The boy hoped for the latter, obviously.

He never wished death for her.

Because he,

He still loved her.

And so, it is now that the story of these two young lovers or 'non'-lovers that is, -yet who were so deeply connected to each other- must soon come to an end.

But wait.

We're not finished yet.

The boy kept the child.  
He raised her. He grew to love her.  
Because the child, the small girl, was indeed_ his_ child.  
For what reason could he not love her?

All finally seemed well. Through time, of course.

All is through time.

But then...  
One day he suddenly turned on her.  
The poor little girl, such innocence, -not knowing what she had done wrong- just cried. And cried. And cried.  
Though the boy's physical actions were sudden, his mind's actions weren't. He had been thinking all this time. He started thinking hard and deep of this little child ever since she was thrown at his feet, and he never stopped. She was always on his mind.

He found something out.

He never brought himself to grow out of love with the girl who had conceived this baby.

And through much agony, through much pain, cries, sweat, blood, tears, scrapes, bruises, wounds and permanent scars, it was that he had finally realized something.

"She will _never_ love me" The boy said to himself.

And with this, with this one sentence, he realized many, many more things in life.

He started to hate the girl. The girl he was once in love with.

So he took it out on the girl's child. _His_ child.

He looked into the innocent, big brown eyes of the little infant and could only see one thing.

His past love.

The girl who never loved him.

The girl who betrayed him.

So he started to take his anger out on the child one day.

But it seems though, that day never met it's end...

...the beatings never stopped...

...

...

..

_4 Days Since Max Last Spoke To Fang..._

His eyes open. He wakes up suddenly and his body comes forth abruptly, sitting up. His hands clutch his black thin bed spreads on either sides of his hips. His lips are parted; his jaw dropped as he pants out excessively. His eyes are widened just a bit and his eyebrows creased. Sweat drips down his sheets from the tips of his bangs. He bites his lip till it turns a flesh colored red. He takes out one final sigh and brings his knees up, resting his chin on them as his arms wrap around his legs. He gives himself time to recover from his very vivid dream just now.  
"What's wrong with me?" He says to himself under his breath, his chest heaving a bit.  
He throws his body back down onto the mattress and clutches his sheets once more but then lets them go as he rubs his eyes. His fingers now run through his black hair. He closes his mouth and clenches his jaw as the space between his fingers latch onto his hair and pull it in both directions.

"What is wrong, wrong, wrong with me?"

He groans out feeling very tensed...and wanting. He takes his hands out of his now messy and sweaty hair. He looks at his palms and sees their a bit wet, the sweat form his hair.

"Gross"

He mutters under his breath and rubs them off on his jersey shorts. He sighs out once more and turns his body around so his chest is now pressed flatly against his mattress. He presses his face against his pillow and his hands grasp his pillowcase tightly on either side of his head. His brows furrow and he sighs out again, much dis-contently. Fang starts letting out harsh breaths against his pillow since his mouth is flatly placed on his pillow, making it difficult to breath. His eyes start to water. His chest rises a bit each time he lets out a breath. Because of this, his crotch presses itself more flatly against his mattress. He starts muttering groans of complaint and displeasure. This is when a few drops of tears begin trailing down his cheeks and onto his pillow, making it damp. He stays in this position for a long while. This distresses him greatly. The sensations his body produces. The feeling of both his body being overly excited yet his mind being in great anxiety. Every time he breathes out, every time he moves, just even a little or even breathes out -making his body rise- he feels himself pressing harder onto his bed. He can feel himself getting firmer. He can't help but love that feeling of want and need his body has yet he hates it because he cant help but feel disgusted at himself. For the reason. The reason he's like this. In this position. Feeling this certain way.

Max.

He knows he can just simply end this throbbing he has by giving attention to his needs. He can simply just start rubbing his member against his mattress in a harsh way to give himself a very exciting and pleasurable sensation. However, he can't do this. He'd feel wrong. He knows it's wrong. He knows there's something wrong with him.

And that's why his eyes water.

Because every time he even dreams of Max, whether they do something sexual in his dream or just even talk, he always wakes up with a wanting sensation; with a bulge between his legs. And he's tired of it. He can't help it if he dreams of Max, it's beyond his power. He doesn't get to choose who appears in his dreams and who doesn't. She just happens to appear there every now and then. More than that, actually.

So far, this is the fourth night he's waken up to a bulge between his legs.

He hates it.

Some nights, he enters the dream world and next he knows, he's already having sex with Max. He doesn't know how they end up in that position, but somehow they do. They always do. And this truly puzzles him. Did he instigate it? Or did she? Or did they both? And did they even kiss first? These things he doesn't remember at all. He can barely even remember what they talked of prior to these intimate times. He does know they all happened though. Of course, in real life Fang is sure his dreams are never going to come a reality because he's sure he's never just going to end up doing it with Max for no apparent reason. And he's sure that she'd feel exactly the same way. They're both so soo shy he doubts that it'll ever come down to the two of them nude and on a bed moving and moaning in such pleasurable ways.

One night, he even woke up with himself having already released, all slimy in his boxers,while dreaming. He got so disgusted at himself that he rushed to the bathroom to take a very cold shower at 4 in the morning. His parents surely heard the shower on and probably wondered. He changed into his regular attire -jeans and a t-shirt. There's no way he'd go back to sleep in fear of dreaming about Max again, even if it was only 4 in the morning. He'd find something else to do. Afterwords, he threw up on his carpet on the way to his bed. A lot. It took him a whole hour to clean up the vomit that settled itself nicely into the fibers of the carpet since he was steam cleaning it. Shortly, he threw up again being disgusted at his own throw up. Then he had to clean that again. And take another shower. So, thankfully it was a Saturday morning that day because he was overly exhausted and went back to sleep at 2 in the afternoon. His parents just thought he was sick that day so they let him be.

He'd feel like a total pervert if he were to alleviate himself by his own hands just because he's subconsciously developed a new sexual frustration towards Max. Towards that girl that means dearly to him. It's not Max's fault either, that he feels this way, that he's -without knowing it- slowly been developing a lustful attraction towards not just towards her body -but her soul as well. In his dreams, he can even be just simply talking to her and in the end, he'll still wake up with a hard on erection.

He'd also feel ashamed if he were to release himself while thinking of her. Fang thinks it'd be a very wrong and sick minded thing to do. He sees Max as this pure, beautiful innocent girl who just happens to be beaten by her father every day. Despite that, despite those evident scars on her body, Fang still thinks of Max as a bit of a naive, pure girl.

Oh, how wrong he is though.

He doesn't know her true nature.

And she doesn't intend to show him.

...

...

.  
_School_

He slams his locker shut, with a pissed off face.  
"Wow" Iggy mutters. Fang sends him a death glare,

"Don't even start"

He mutters and begins to walk away.

"Are you sure something's not bothering you? You can talk to me you know"

He places a hand on Fang's rough shoulder but quickly retrieves it.

"Wow you feel tense"

"I'm fine"

Fang replies, still walking. Iggy rolls his eyes,

"Look-" He stops Fang, placing both hands on his shoulders.

"I'm not a retard, you're obviously not fine. I'm your best friend, you can talk to me about whatever"

Iggy clears his throat and suddenly gives Fang a serious look much to his surprise.

"You know I'm here for you, right?"

He asks Fang and soon realizes that Fang's body is becoming less tense as Iggy's reassuring words reach him.

"I know it may seem as if I'm always preoccupied with stuff, with Nudge and you know...but I haven't forgotten about y-"

Iggy suddenly stops and notices a few girls bunched together and whispering things to each other as they stare at both Fang and Iggy. Iggy realizes and suddenly gives Fang a friendly punch on his arm causing Fang to take a step back.

"What the he-"

A now pissed doff Fang is cut off by Iggy.

"And that's how you know when the girl wants you to fuck her..._bro_" Iggy says, putting as much manliness into that one sentence. A confused Fang raises an eyebrow.

"H- whaaa?" He asks. The girls scatter away from the two and Iggy grabs Fang arms, leading him into the locker room.

"Sorry about that, dude" Iggy winces.

"That didn't hurt did it, did your bruises heal already? It's only been about a week tho-"

"Shut up, Iggy" Fang starts walking away.

"Hey, wait!" Iggy runs in front of him and gets in the way of the doors. Fang crosses his arms.

"Don't think you can get away that easily, dude..." Iggy points a finger to Fang's chest. He breathes out and once again, reverts to his serious face.

"Look, what I was saying before...I'm here for you...and ummm..." Iggy trails off.

Fang sighs out in boredom.

"Wait!" Iggy holds his arms up in the air.

"Okay, okay this is weird...I feel like I'm your parent or something and I'm giving you a lecture...hmm"

Fang sighs once more, "Iggy, just tell me what it is you wanna say"

Iggy nods, "Okay, c'mere and sit" Iggy walks over to the bench and Fang follows. Iggy looks away from Fang and his eyes wonder off to the rest of the boys locker room.

"Do you remember..." Fang uncrosses his arms and leans back, resting his palms on the bench.

"Do I remember?" He asks.

Iggy nods, "Two years ago...you were...you..."

Fang suddenly looks away from his face and onto the floor.

"I'm very aware" He says quietly.

"Okay. Soo...you got better, that's the point...you got better, _healthier_ I mean...you know-" Iggy shifts his body closer to Fangs but there is still a good gap between them on the bench.

"I probably never told you this, I don't remember if I did or not, so much happened in that two year time span..." Fang nods in agreement

"But-" Iggy continues,

"I was so hurt to see you in such pain, dude. And when you got better...well, it took a while, but you got better and it made me so happy to have my best friend back...I- dude, I've known you since I was a freakin' baby so you're like a brother to me...and I remember wanting to comfort -well, wait, do you...uh...do you remember what we di-"

Fang eyes suddenly go wide and he cuts Iggy off,

"_Yes_, God, Iggy, I remember everything clearly, please do not ever bring that up ever again"

Fang says and he looks away, now feeling all flustered. Iggy sighs out in relief.

"Okay. Thank God. Just wanted to make that point across. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that these past few weeks I feel as though you're going back..."

Iggy winces as his own choice of words, scared Fang will suddenly lash out at him if he feels offended. He doesn't do anything, however.

"I'm not. So don't wor-"

"See that! That's the problem, you don't talk to me about these things! You don't talk about these things to anyone in general! I just don't want to see you down that depressed road again -you used to fucking hurt yourself and we embraced as if we were gay! That's how much you needed someone! You never even refused what happened between us!" Iggy bluntly blurts out the words angrily at Fang. Fang looks at Iggy with narrow eyes and furrowed eyebrows then his glare slowly fades as his eyes wander off somewhere else.

"I'm well aware of what I used to do just as much as I'm aware of how you were there for me so...believe me, I don't plan on going down that road again" He says quietly.

There is definitely much tension between the two boys right bow. They both feel like killing each other.

"That's good." Iggy replies.

He looks away from Fang, now leaning against a locker as Fang stays still on the bench. Iggy jaw clenches.

"I hope you know I say this because I'm worried about you...Do you even talk to your therapist anymore?" He asks Fang, now looking at him in the eyes.

Fang returns his stare, "No. It's been two years." He replies with a soft voice, anger not present in him at the moment but he's definitely still tense.

"See? But it worked because you got better. You found life, again Fang. But lately, you've been...I mean you can't just keep things bottled up inside of you. I _know_ you Fang, I know who you are and what you're like. You're gonna explode, eventually. And something tells me _that_ part of you hasn't changed"

"How...-"

Fang stands up, walking closer to Iggy, now suddenly slamming him against the locker. Iggy looks at Fang with wide eyes, taken by surprise. Fang was never this aggressive to him before. Fang slams a palm on the locker on the side of Iggy's neck and his other is coiled up into a fist clutching Iggy's shirt collar.

"Why do you want me to be happy when the girl I fucking like is constantly being brutally beaten by her father every day?!Do you know how _sick _that would be, for me to do something so ignorant, so selfish as to be happy?!Tell me, huh?! _Huhh?!_"

With this, Fang lets go of Iggy's collar. He storms off in such rage. He definitely wasn't planning on being so aggressive towards Iggy. He knows Iggy's intentions are good hearted but he just angers him sometimes. He doesn't regret how he acted towards Iggy, since Iggy probably had it coming and he knew it. If he ever were to scream at Max like that however, he's pretty sure he'd be writing out her eulogy the next day.

...

...

_Max's House_

The sun's rays peer through her lucid creme colored curtains, trespassing the thin skin of her ivory colored eyelids. She groans and clears her throat several times while moving about, trying to find a more comfortable position on the bed. She is soon woken though, her peaceful slumber, as soon as a loud bang sounds on the other side of her door. Her body comes forth, as if without giving it any thought and she immediately retrieves to the headboard of the bed, now sitting in fetus position -with her thighs embraced to her chest. She breathes out heavily, the loud noises of the continuous banging scaring her.  
"Maaax! I hope you're up and dressed, 'cause you better be outta here within the next ten minutes!"  
Realizations hits her and her jaw drops as she immediately turns to look at her digital clock on her nightstand. She throws her lilac colored thick bedspread off the lower half of her body and spring out of bed, lunging to the bathroom.  
8:54 AM

Not bothering to even close her bathroom door, she grabs her tooth brush and the white tube of mint toothpaste from inside a drawer. She hurriedly throws the tube back into the drawer, stuffs her toothbrush into her mouth and strips down until she is naked, hopping into the shower. She brushes as she bathes.

"You're still here?"

He gives her a nasty look all the way form the kitchen counter, looking into her direction as he watches her run down the stairs. She pauses for a moment, not knowing what to say. Her mouth opens but no words come out. His look turns into that of a glare and he approaches her with such violence. Max's eye widen and she backs away, tripping over the edge of the staircase, landing on her butt.

"No, please"

She squints in pain, looking away with her arms in front of her for defense. Her eyes open as she is suddenly brought to her feet.  
"Get outta here" He glares at her.  
"I don't have time to deal with you right now."  
Max nods.

"I'm sorry" She mumbles, heading out the door.

"Max!" He shouts behind her, making her heart beat speed up again.  
As she waits for him to finish his sentence her mind quickly scans through a list of things that she could have done wrong just now -the reason as to why he's calling her attention.  
"I told you in ten minutes. It's already 9, you've gotta learn how to manage your time better. You know what I said last time about the teachers always calling here and complaining about you. Truth be told _I'm freakin' tired of it!_" He raises his voice very loud at the last sentence, making her wince.  
"It won't happen again" She says quietly.  
"Better not!"  
Max nods, turning around again and just as she is about to turn the door knob, hears him mutter something.  
"Fuckin' bitch" He spits out, taking a sip of his coffee.  
Max clamps her lips down together and heads out the door, quietly closing it. As if by instincts, her turns to her left -Fang's house- and notices neither of his parents cars are in the driveway. She takes a seat on her front patio and blurts out a cry.

_Fuckin' bitch_

Those same words with his voice keep repeating themselves in her mind over and over again.

She just can't help but to feel ashamed -dirty- when her own father calls her that.

She wipes her eyes with her fingertips and sniffles.  
_What am I doing?_ She thinks in realization.  
"I don't have time for this" She mutters to herself, getting up and running down the sidewalk into the direction of her school.

...

Several minutes later she comes to a stop, waiting for a line of cars to pass by . She feels something on her palm though and she immediately looks up. As soon as she does, her face is soon lathered in hundreds of tiny droplets of water.  
Her puts her bag down on the sidewalk and looks for her plastic binder to use it as a shield over her head.  
"Why now?!"

She complains to herself as she runs across the street before the next several cars pass before her. Max takes her phone out, glancing at the time and gasps.  
"Crap, I'm late!"

She runs as fats as she can, crossing yet another street.

...

...

..

_School_

"Hey man" Someone approaches Fang. Fang turns to them as he leans against a locker, regaining himself after that weird argument with Iggy.  
"You. Dylan" Fang nods at him but it comes out as more of a glare. Dylan raises an eyebrow.

"Um, did I do something wrong?"

Fang looks away from him, focusing on the floor.

"No. Forget it. Anyways, what do you want?"

Still looking at the floor while his mind is somewhere else.  
Dylan shrugs, "Nothing. Just...saying hi, 'cause that's what friends do...it'd be weird if we just ignored each other..." Dylan's voice sort of trails off as he notices Fang's black aura right now.

"Uhmm..." Dylan mutters, changing the position of his books he's holding to this other hand.  
He notices Fang's eyes widen a little and his face suddenly turns towards Dylan.

"Sorry. Wha- what did you say again?" He asks.  
Dylan shrugs, "Nothing" He chuckles nervously.

"Um, see you, okay? I think we're in chemistry together so see you later"

He waves, not wanting to do anything with Fang when he's clearly pissed. Fang nods towards him and Dylan walks off.  
Fang sighs out, throwing his head back on a locker.

"Stupid Iggy" he whispers to himself. He feels so violated right now. So tortured and more than anything annoyed and embarrassed why Iggy just bluntly brought up the past and practically threw it into his face.

_"-you used to fucking cut yourself and we embraced as if we were gay! That's how much you needed someone! You never even refused what happened between us!"_

He sighs out once more and his shoulders slump and his back which leans against the lockers slowly slides off as he finds himself sitting on the floor. His face falls down to his palms.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

He says very quietly under his breath, referring to Iggy.

"Ummm, excuse me"

Fang's eyelids immediately shoot right open as he hears a female voice talking to him. He removes his face from his palms and looks up to the sudden girl with surprise.  
"Are you okay?"

She asks. At first, he wonders why she's asking such a question. Why she even cares. Just because this strange girl and he go to the same school, it doesn't necessarily mean they have to care about each other. Who does that?

Oh.

Then he realizes that she's the student council president. Kim. She's the sweet girl-next-door type who literally cares about everyone. And who wouldn't care about an almost-crying-over-the-edge-lonely-hottie?

"What's wrong? Uh, -notthatit'sanyofmybusiness!" She corrects herself in one single breath, still smiling at him. He takes a second to think and then immediately gets up. She smiles at him nervously.  
"Nothing" He replies and takes a step forward, away from her until a sudden grasp on his arm stops him.  
"Hey, hey now"

She smiles again.

"You know it's kinda my job to care for the students here" She smiles sweetly towards him.  
"Do you wanna talk about it?" She asks, still holding his arm.  
He turns his head towards her, now looking her in the eyes. Fang swears he can hear her gasp as the sudden intent stare he's giving her. He looks behind him to make sure no one's there and with one sudden movement, he slams her against the locker.

She winces "Hey, what's are y-"

Her eyes widen. He cuts her off by forcefully planting his lips on hers. No tongue, though. He stops kissing her a few seconds later. He looks at her with an impassive face. She is looking all surprised.

He really needed this.

Really needed a way to release all this anger. Really needed a way to feel like a guy again. After what Iggy just threw at him, he feels so...strange. As if he was questioned his sexual orientation. But despite what happened in the past, despite Iggy's and Fang's relationship in the past not being a normal guy/guy friendship, Fang is positively sure he knows who he is. It's just the dark feelings of the past that created this huge ominous cloud above Fang. A cloud that never left. He needed to make sure even though he already was sure. Plus, just knowing that his past with Iggy totally disgusts him -and he's sure it disgusts Iggy as well -to the point that they both unofficially officially swore to never talk about that topic ever again, is enough proof that Fang knows who he is -sexually, wise. What's more, it's not like Fang and Iggy have ever kissed or done anything sexual together -they haven't.

There's only one thing that he wants.

This one girl.

Max.

That's why he kissed this girl,for the above reasons and to know if whether or not he'd instantly feel the same way he does when he kissed Max. When she kissed him back.

And he doesn't.

He didn't feel anything at all when he kissed this girl. No sparks. No wanting feeling. No feeling as if he's about to explode. No unavoidable, reluctant sexual thoughts.

Nothing.

Fang removes his palms from the locker that were surrounding the girl.  
"Sorry" He mutters.  
"What...what was that?"

She fixes her hair. Fang shakes his head.

"Nothing. I'm really sorry." He mutters.

"Um. Okay. Are...are you sure that was nothing?" She asks him.

He looks to her and nods. The girl exhales out and puts a hand over her chest, chuckling.

"Okay. Because, I...um, have a boyfriend soo..."  
Fang eyes widen in realization.

_Does she actually think I'm interested din her? _He chuckles nervously.  
"Believe me, that was nothing. Sorry" He says and walks off.

She smiles to him, shrugging and walks off into an opposite direction, meeting shoulder to shoulder as she passes by another girl.  
"Hey"

She waves to Max, giving her a sly smile as she just stands there in a bit of shock. She tries not to show it much but she can't help but just freeze in the middle of the hall; her body just can't move right now. Max turns around, glancing at the girl who kissed Fang. Thankfully, Fang hasn't seen Max.

Max tuns around, running into the opposite direction of Fang and slams the girl's bathroom door opened. No one seems to be in there but her. She sets her books down on the tiled floor and rushes tot he sink, vigorously splashing water at her face.  
_Just calm down_  
She recalls seeing Fang _slam_ the girl against the lockers and kissing her, without any hesitation at all.  
_I really though you were the sweet type_  
_Is this the type of guy you really are?_  
"Stop feeling this way, you have a _boyfriend_!" She shouts to herself in the mirror. Max turns off the faucet and turns her body around, her hands now leaning against the sink. She takes deep breathes for a small moment and clears her throat.  
"I'm fine"

She says to herself, picking up her books and heads out the door.  
"Max!"

She hears a sudden, familiar voice call her name and sighs out.  
_What do you want?_  
She plasters a smile on her face and turns around, grinning.

"Hey! What's up?"

They both walk up to each other.  
"Do you have a minute? There's something I wanna talk about"  
"Oh, uh...em, actually I have to get to class, I've been gone for a while ..the teacher might get pissed"

She says, avoiding eye contact.  
"That's fine"

He grabs her hand and pulls her into him.  
"Dan, wai-"

She is cut off by a pair of lips on top of hers. Suddenly, she feels something slimy run across her bottom lip and she puts both hands on his chest, pushing him away. He looks at her with question.  
"Like I said, I have to get to class"

She says and walks off. She stops for a second and turns around seeing him still there, frozen from her sudden reaction.

"Talk later, maybe?" She asks.  
He nods, "See ya"  
Max nods back and walks off, taking a turn into the other side of the hall. She sets her books down and goes to the water fountain, rinsing her mouth.  
She wipes her lips, "What was that?" She grimaces.  
_That was so gross_

She frowns and puts her books to her chest, running back to class. As she walks down the hall, she can't help but remember the time when Fang kissed her. She blushes. He certainly didn't use his tongue on her but even so, she thinks of it as a bit off due to the fact she never pushes Fang away when he kissed her.  
"Stupid Fang" She says to herself.  
_It's only been like maybe a week since he kissed me and now he's kissing another girl?. What a man-whore. I really hate him._

She frowns as she thinks of him.

_2 Hours Later- Psychology Class_

"So, I wrote several examples up on the board for you. Use them if need be. You have exactly forty five minutes to complete your quizzes. The time right now is 11:15 so be sure to be done by 12, the seniors are coming here next class and you'll have a really hard time finishing up your test if you stay behind, you know how noisy they can be. Alright, any questions?" The teacher, Mr. Stan, scans the whole room quickly looking for any raised hands. None.

"Sarah, Fang and Scott, are your heads in this room right now? You three seem to be dozing off, pay attention please" The students nod at him.  
"Alright, since there are no questions...BEGIN!" he walks to his desk and starts grading several papers, taking sips of his coffee every now and then.

Fang looks down at his paper, scanning a few questions.

1)...?Explain.  
2)...?Explain.  
3)...?Explain.  
4)...?Explain.  
5)...?Explain.  
6)...?Explain.

He dares not look at the rest of his test. Fang drops his head in defeat.  
_I should have studied_

The same thing happened with his Algebra test. There's goes his A average...

_35 minutes later_

"C'mon class, hurry up. Those who are still testing, raise their hands please"

The teacher says, looking up at the class. Fang, much to his embarrassment, is one of them. The teacher is taken by surprise as he sees Fang's hand.

"Quickly. 10 minutes left"

He gets back to his work, grading papers. Fang rests his cheek against his palm and casually looks out to the windows direction. He spots a random couple as they head out of the school, he looks at them, grimacing. Somehow, they remind Fang of Max and him. Even though they were never a couple, it makes him think of her.  
_I still don't understand_

_Why does she hate me now?_

He rubs his eyes and looks away his test. He clears his throat but it turns out to sound more like a suppressed laugh. A few students turn his way and he feels their eye on him, he returns their stares and shoots them such a look with narrow, deathly eyes making them immediately look away.

...

...

The timer the teacher set finally goes off after the forty five minutes had passed.

"And pencils down" He states.

"Please turn in your exam to the front row. I've written down your homework assignment on the board, make sure to copy it down. Don't forget the official exam for this section is next Tuesday when I see you guys again so be prepared! You will have a full hour to complete it!"

The teacher raises his voice a bit as a huge group of seniors start entering the classroom. Fang copies the assignment down into his notebook, glancing at the board. He gathers his books and stuffs them into his messenger bag.  
"Fang-" A sudden hand stops him.

He looks behind to see his teacher.

"I was surprised it took you that long to complete your test. Did you study, is everything alright?" He asks, out of concern looking at Fang behind his glasses.  
Fang nods, "Yeah. I just had a bad headache, that's all. But I did study."

He replies, looking a bit in a hurry to get to his next class.  
"Sure you studied enough to get an A? I know you're a top student and I just want you to keep your grade A average up."

Fang bites his bottom lip and that's enough for the teacher to get the memo.

"Ah. I see. Well, we all have our days. There is plenty of time to get more A's."

He smiles at Fang to which he nods.

"Well, hurry up and get to your next class"

Fang nods, walking through a crowd of seniors when suddenly he is shoulder bumped by someone, but he ignores it knowing there literally no room to walk.

"Sorry" The person mutters to him. Fang literally stops dead in his tracks.

That voice. A girl's voice.

Max.

He turns around and sees Max walking up to the teacher. She has a single paper in her hand along with a pen.  
He can't hear her through all the ruckus but he witnesses the two exchanging words. Max says a few words and the teacher nods. He smiles, pointing to the back of the classroom, -the labroom- and the two exchange a few more words. She nods and walks off. Wherever she goes, Fang's eyes follow. He gets what's going on. She's probably making up a test since she's definitely not in this class, she's not a senior. He doesn't leave the room yet, but keeps looking at her. Class hasn't started yet so he blends in with the seniors if he just stands there.  
"Sophomore meat in the classroooom" A boy chimes out.  
"He's a junior, moron" A girl mutters throwing a paper airplane at the other student.

A girl gasps, "Ohemgee! He's so hot, can I have him?" The girl chuckles.  
"He can hear you" Another laughs.  
"Why's he standing all alone?" A blonde haired girl asks.

The two guys shrug.

"I think he's checking that other girl out. She's hot" He says, looking behind him.

"Who cares about her? Him! What's his name?" She points to him.  
"Fang" The guy says, "He's like...freaky though"  
"Oh, shut up"

"Hey, my friend told me she slept with a Fang at some party"  
The girl gasps, "Lucky!"

She pouts "I wanna jump on his dick, he's just soo cute"  
"Lets eat his di-"  
"Oh God, please don't finish that sentence" Fang mutters casually, over to the group of six students; four girls and two guys while leaning on the wall with his arms crossed. He's still of course starring at Max though, he never gets his eyes off her.

"Wow and they say guys are horny" The redheaded guy laughs.  
"What your name, cutie?" A girl with gigantic boobs sticking out of her shirt bats her eyelashes at him.  
"Can we have sex?" A brunette girl purs at Fang.

"Ew, you slut" Another girls says in disgust.

"Evanie, your disgusting" The redhead mutters.

"You're just jealous, you can't even pull off black, you gayster"

"You guys are so stupid, he can hear every word you're saying"

"Shut up, you lesbo!"

"Ugh. Whatever, Eric. I hate you. I hope you die." A girl with bleached platinum hair says casually, doodling in her notebook.  
"I think you're scaring him" Another guy laughs.  
Fang ignores the wild seniors and sighs out, starting to feel he's been starring at her too long. He notices that Max has had a troubled look on her face since she came into this classroom. She fans herself and fixes her hair. She continuously taps her pen against her fingernail and constantly flips the page over to the back to read the next questions. She frowns and her face falls into her palms every now and then. She's totally clueless to this material. Fang's brows furrow. He can't help but feel sorry for her. He wishes he can go just help her with her whole exam. Or even just do the whole thing for her and obviously, let her take all the credit.

For her, he'd do anything.

He's sure of it.

"Oh, God" He reads her lips and knows she muttered that to herself. She's now tapping her pen against the black sleek wooden lab fingers dig into her hair as she rests one side of her face on her palm. Suddenly, she hears her phone vibrate from within her pocket so she reaches for it, reading the text.

_NEW TEXT MESSAGE_

From: Dan

She clicks on it.

-  
From: Dan

_Whr r u right now? Wht r u doing?_  
-

Max sighs and switches her phone off, putting it back in her pocket.

"Stop bothering me" She mutters very quietly to herself.

_It's been four days. So why?_ Fang thinks to himself, his eyes dropping to a random bag thrown on the floor.

He looks away and decides to leave as class is about to commence, totally ignoring the other students who were talking to him.

Fang walks down the hall to his next class, Algebra II. He decides to take a quick sip from the water fountain before heading off. He passes by a few students, one of them Lissa.  
_Please don't talk to me_ He mentally thinks.

Much to his surprise, Lissa doesn't say a word to him but as thy pass shoulders, she waves and sends him a quick smile before opening the door to the girl's bathroom.

Fang heads to his locker, taking out his Algebra book and organizing a couple of papers that went flying from out of a random red folder he had stuffed in there a few weeks ago.

_2 Hours later - 2:00 PM_

"Hey Max!" A sudden girly voice startles her as puts her novel down. She looks over to Nudge who seems a bubbly and cheery, as usual.  
"Hi" Max replies, not putting the book away into her bag.  
"After school, Britanny, Angel and me were gonna go to the mall so we wanted to know if you wanted to come with? I just thought it'b be fun" She smiles

"On a Tuesday? It's a school night" Max says casually.

Nudge shrugs, "Britanny's going away with her family for an early summer vaca in Italy! How exciting is that?!" Nudge grins. Max smiles, not knowing what to say of this, she certainly doesn't know who this 'Britanny' girl is and not to be rude, but doesn't care one bit of her.

Nudge grins, "They've been planning for weeks cause her mom's side of the family was also going there at the same time so they kinda made it like a meetup! Anyways, today's Britanny's last day here for this semester so we were gonna go shopping together to get her some cute summery clothes"

Nudge says most gleefully. Max smiles, knowing it's the best she can do.

"Um, that's really nice...Nudge." Max's sudden abruptness takes Nudge by surprise.

"Um, but I'm busy, I mean I'm not allowed to go out on school days so-"

"Oh, that's totally fine, I can run it to your parents! Just let me talk to mommy!" Nudge laughs.

"I'm better with moms than dads. You know how fathers can be, so annoying" She laughs.

Max's eyes widen a bit and she can't help but look away. Suddenly, she feels her vision start to blur and knows that her eyes are watering.

She's about to cry.

About to breakdown.

Nudge looks at Max with total confusion.

"Max, you o-"  
"Sorry, I- I can't"

Max grabs all her belongings as quickly as she can and heads out the glass doors, exiting the school. She hears Nudge's voice call her from a distance but disregards it. Max runs to behind the school. She checks her phone, glancing quickly at the time.

_ 2:08 PM_

School isn't over yet so there's no way she can go home without her father questioning her. So, she runs to a familiar place. A place under a bunch of old huge trees where there's a nice amount of loneliness, away from anyone's view.

This is where her and Fang first bonded. Well, 'bonded' is a strong word actually. Where they 'got along' is a more appropriate term to use.

She stares at the space and runs to it, throwing her books that were in her hand and her bag down. She falls to her knees and rests her forehead against the trees. She winces, thinking she slammed her head a little too hard against the rigid surface of the tree and just hopes, a visible scratch won't form. Max turns around, now leaning with her back against the tree. She brings her legs up to her stomach and her arms hug her knees as she rests her chin on them. She frowns as tears start falling endlessly down her face. Her chin creases up. She lets out little gasps, fixing her hair every now and then due to the harsh wind.

_"Oh, that's totally fine, I can run it to your parents! Just let me talk to mommy!"_  
_"I'm better with moms than dads. You know how fathers can be, so annoying"_

The way those sentences just hit Max. So hard. So deep. Such penetration. The way they made her feel. The way they're _making_ her feel right now. How right after Nudge finished speaking those sentences, tears started to immediately build in her eyes. Before Max herself even realized the sad meaning behind those words, her brain had already subconsciously perceived it, sending tears.

Something like that...  
How can something like that hurt her so badly?  
How can those sentences move her in such a way?

_How can she be so ignorant?_ Max thinks, still crying.  
_God, how could she have said that, doesn't she know my mom's dead?_  
"Why am I so stupid?" Max quietly says to herself, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her hoodie.

She eventually calms down from her episode and looks to her side. Her fair skinned hand settles itself down on it. She closes her eyes as the blades of grass skim through her fingers.  
_This is where Fang sat_

Indeed, this is where they first got along. Where they really got to know each other. Where she thought of him as annoying. As an intruder in her secret life.

But nonetheless, he still talked to her, despite knowing what she thought of him.

This is where he called her smile pretty.

And at the time, she thought to herself, _I know you're just trying to be nice_ She didn't actually believe him when he complimented her. Little does she know though, he actually meant it. And little does she know, he wants to see plenty more of those beautiful smiles. He wants to be the cause of her smiles.  
And the cure to her sadness.

Fang wants to be there for Max, period.

She unconsciously smiles at these thoughts of her and Fang. She keeps looking down at the grass when suddenly her thoughts take her to a memory most relinquished. Something she wanted to let go of.

She thinks of the time when she screamed out the boy's name. Fang. When she was in her joyous event.

Max blinks several times and closes her eyes, her brows furrowing as she tries to shake off this thought. She still blushes at the thought though. She starts to inadvertently bite her nail which is starting to become really bad.

Having enjoyed her time to herself outside and breathe fresh air, she finally decides to go back into the school. She gets up an grabs her bag, placing all her books that she didn't have time to put in there since she was in such a hurry to run away from Nudge. Max jogs over to the glass doors and opens one, now heading to her locker. A few students are about as well, wandering the halls doing heaven knows what.

Max decides to sit near her locker and just skip the rest of the class that she has since the day is almost over.

Full of boredom, -though when is she never- she decides to recheck that text message she received from her boyfriend earlier. She clicks on it, eyeing the message but not replying anything back.

-  
From: Dan

_Whr r u right now? Wht r u doing?_  
-

She stays still for a moment, in deep thought of what to write back.

-  
To: Dan From: Max

Hey, I'm bu-

She sighs out, shaking her head in dissapproval

_I can't write that. Stupid._

"Whatever. I'll just not reply" She mutters to herself, putting her phone back into her bag. She stays there on the floor, waiting for classes to come to an end.

"Hey"

Her heart skips a beat when a certain someone who likes to overuse that word comes to mind.

_Oh. It's you._

Max tries her best to manage a smile, again. Dan always catches her in a bad mood.

"Are you skipping for today?" He asks to which she nods.

"I'm just not in the mood" She mutters.

"Cool. Me neither. Do you maybe...I dunno, wanna ditch and go home?"

"My dad will literally kill me if he finds out I ditched" Max says coldly. Dan ignores the attitude she's giving him and continues on with the conversation.

"I figured, which is why I meant my place. Wanna go?"

Now this, _this_ does truly catch Max's attention. True, he's her boyfriend. To her though, that's just a title, it's not like they actually have a relationship together. A bond.

_"I figured, which is why I meant my place. Wanna go?"_

_"I figured, which is why I meant my place. Wanna go?"_

_"I figured, which is why I meant my place. Wanna go?"_

His words keep ringing in her ears. As if she wasn't already pissed off enough.

She looks away from him while she thinks this. Her eyes narrow in suspicion. More than pathetic, she almost thinks it's hilarious how she can see right through him.

_I don't wanna sleep with you_

Max bites her lip, "Um"

She knows her answer, so why is she hesitating to answer him?

What's stopping her?

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**Please let me know what you thought of this chapter, the majority I've written many months ago and some is new. I hope I haven't lost my touch when it comes to creative writing :( I know there's a lot of grammar mistakes in this chapter but oh well -.- Let me know what you think about this chapter please, I've worked really hard on it! Do you think you can get me up to 200 reviews for this chapter? I'm at 181, yay! :D Ideas are always welcome too :D As for 'Neverending Things' readers, I'm slowly adding more into the next chapter, I didn't give up on it :)**


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